The End Of Summer
by Poxy Kirkman
Summary: He longed to destroy her. One day he would. Rated T for occasional language and themes of violence. R
1. Chapter 1

First RotG story :)

(This chapter got deleted for some reason, so I'm posting it up again)

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Wednesday 21st June 1899 a baby girl was born into the world. Her heart stopped twice, and for hours her worried and sobbing parents didn't hear her cry, but eventually it gurgled from her throat, and as any baby would she cried out until she was placed in her mothers' arms, hushed and held, and loved. Eleanor was born into the world, on a hot summer day, and she grew under the protection of her parents, her elder siblings, and of course... the Guardians.

As Eleanor grew she blossomed, and would sit for hours listening to her older brother telling her about Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny, and the gifts they left on their holidays. She had the nasty habit of falling over and her teeth would fall out, and when she awoke the next morning she would be astounded to find a threepence under her pillow, and would race downstairs to show her already woken and somewhat groggy parents her reward for having good teeth, or would jump onto her brothers bed and hit him with a pillow until he tackled her to the mattress, trying playfully to take the money away until he blew raspberries onto her belly and made her laugh. She'd speak for ages on how the tooth fairy had been and how she was determined to see her, just once. Then she'd wait until her father left for work and go down and sneak the change into one of his pants pockets out on the washing line.

Her parents weren't the most well off, her mother having to stay home now to take care of her, her elder brother George and herself, as she fell pregnant again when Eleanor was five. Her father worked down in the mines outside London, and the pay wasn't fantastic.

On days like that, she'd have the sweetest dreams, where she and George were playing out in the fields and her parents were watching and nothing bad would happen to them. Ever.

She saw her little sister into the world in the winter of 1905, she was six years old, and her friends at school would mock her when she told them how she'd encourage her baby sister Mary to believe in Santa, and the other childhood figureheads. She was laughed at and shunned for her belief in them, but she would always remember the threepence coins she found, or the gifts of toy trains and ragdolls at Christmas, or the Easter egg hunts she would go on with George every year. Nothing they said would shift her belief in them, and somewhere within she felt a burst of energy every time she stood up to them, something bold and bright within her that urged her on.

Every year she would wait up on the sofa, staring into the fireplace to try and catch a glimpse of Father Christmas, but the warmth would always make her eyes droop... only for a second, but when she opened them again somehow it was morning, and the tree had a small heap of gifts beneath, the blanket that had been slipping off her in the night was tucked right up to her chin, and a ragdoll was folded into her arms.

Every Easter she and George would run out into the woods to find the eggs ahead of everyone else, and she always secretly hoped she'd spot the Easter Bunny hopping by, or hiding eggs. Every year she'd told George that, and at first he'd been just as enthusiastic, but now at fourteen he didn't seem so eager. He didn't believe any more, and it saddened her.

She vowed to sing her sister lullabies to help the Sandman lull her to a happy sleep, to tell her stories of Christmas and Easter and to be there when she put that first tooth beneath her pillow. It was a promise she made to herself, and to all her childhood heroes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two :) again, please read and review.

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Eleanor looked about the woods and shivered. It was Easter Sunday of 1906 and the fog had rolled in thick. She didn't mind, because it meant the egg hunt would be that bit more challenging. Smiling slightly to herself, the six year old pulled her red scarf tighter around her next and pulled her coat snug around her. She was wearing bright red Wellington boots, meaning her feet were kept warm and dry, black tights, a plain brown skirt, a brown coat, and a red bobby had too. Her hair was long, chestnut coloured and every time the wind rushed past it blew up and about her in a flurry. The wicked basket in her hand swung to and fro as she trudged through the woods, and her greyhound Roger trotted by her side, his ears perking every now and then as he sniffed the ground.

She wasn't expecting much, she mused to herself. The eggs would be near enough covered by the thick fog, or well hidden, but since it didn't seem like hunting weather, she might have one up on the kids that didn't come out.

"Looks like Jack Frost made it very cold today Roger," she whispered to the dog, who woofed lightly in response. She felt another chill bite at her nose, and her cheeks like someone was pinching them, and she swatted at the air. Her eyes strayed to Roger, who had shifted his stance and was looking fixedly at something before them. She turned her eyes to where he was looking but saw nothing.

"Boy, what-?" she started, but the dog barked loudly at this invisible being and pelted off into the mist.

"Roger!" she cried, brushing her hair back and running in the same direction the dog had. The fog seemed thicker here, and the trees more dense. She'd been told by her mother not to stray off the main path, but she didn't want to leave the dog to go running off. It was odd, he'd never done anything like this before! "Roger," she shouted again, stopping and looking around at the woods and gulping at how lost she felt. Her boots made it hard to run and she could neither see nor hear the dog.

Then suddenly the mist thinned out before her, in only one direction, and she heard a muffled cry up ahead.

"Roger?" she whispered, and moved forward again, this time more slowly.

She pushed her way through thick brush, wincing as twigs flicked against her face, her brown eyes wide and searching for the pooch. One thick root twisted up out of the ground and she heard snarling from the other side of it, heaving herself up she looked and saw Roger baring his teeth at a bush, just one lone bush that seemed to be quivering.

"Roger, shush!" she snapped, and the dog shut up instantly, cowering away from her as she raised a hand to shove him to the side. Looking into the shadow of the bush, she saw the figure of... something. Whoever it was was clutching their leg, which stuck out at a very odd angle and made her wonder what it was.

"Keep that bloody thing away from me!" he snapped, and she jumped back in shock and fright from the voice. The man had a different accent, nothing she'd heard around London before.

"I-I'm sorry sir," she started, and he scoffed.

"Damn right you are, should keep that thing on a leash."

She felt hurt, and it must have shown because right away the man sighed, his shoulders slumped, and he looked up at her. She could just make out the shine of two brilliantly green eyes, two very large brilliant green eyes, and she felt enchanted right away.

"Sir, can I help you? Did he hurt you?"

"Only a little, I'll be fine, you go back home now," he said gently, and she felt curiosity tug at her. Her mother always told her not to talk to strangers, but this man seemed different. It was like she knew him somehow, from a dream of dreams.

"Who are you?" she asked, sounding a lot cheekier than she'd intended, "Where have you come from? You're not local."

He chuckled, and shook his head, shuffling slightly further into the shadows, but she could tell from his gasp and wince that he was hurt quite badly.

"No, I'm not from round here. I'm Australian, now you should really get that mutt back home," she heard him say, before he added on under his breath, "or to a pound."

She felt her feet carrying her forward, felt her arm reaching out for the branches of the bush and though he panicked somewhat and protested against her coming closer she did anyway, wonder and curiosity belittling her common sense or respect for others wants. Pulling the branch away she noticed how the fog had cleared from this hallow, how the sunlight was streaming through the trees to create a dappled green light, how it was the same as the man's eyes, which were wider now and even more vivid. She shed the light on him, and in their own little world of green light and wonder her large innocent brown eyes met his large scared green ones, and she felt a smile grace her lips and her heart swell with excitement and happiness. Tears stung her eyes and she knew she was right.

"You're the Easter Bunny," she whispered.

There was a paused, before he dropped his head and sighed.

"Yeah... I am."

"You're not what I thought you'd be," she told him, as she took his arm and helped him crawl from his hiding place. "I thought you'd be a lot more... cuddly." The first thing she'd noticed was the sheer size of him, he must have been several feet tall, taller than her father by at least a head. He was covered in grey fur which had darker patches in it that looked like flowers and tribal patterns. Boomerangs were fastened to his hip while eggs were strapped to his chest. He looked amazing, yet intimidating at the same time, but she felt no fear of him.

"You thought I'd be fat?"

"I didn't mean it like that sir, I am sorry," she replied, and he smiled slightly.

"I'd never be able to do my job if I was as jolly as old St Nick, would I?" he laughed, shooing her away slightly.

He tried standing, and she let go of his arm and took a step back, but he gasped and his body shuddered and in a second he was curled up on the floor again, crying out in pain, anger and frustration. She looked quickly at the leg he was holding onto and noticed his fur was matted with blood.

"Oh!" she cried, rushing forward and dropping to her knees by his side. "Did Roger do that?" she cried, reaching forward tentatively and touching his leg, only making him grit his teeth and hiss in pain.

"Yeah, your mutt did that. Stupid... bloody animal. I can normally outrun the ankle biters, but he's fast."

"He's a greyhound, they're racing dogs," she informed him, pulling her scarf from round her neck and reaching forward to his leg again. "They normally chase rabbits too."

"Whoa, what do you think you're doin' Sheila?" he asked in his loud Australian accent, and she looked up briefly. He was staring at her with those big green eyes, and she wanted to do as he said and leave him be, respect his wishes and go about her day, but she could see he was in a lot of pain, and though only six years old she wanted to help him so badly. George was exactly the same, he was so awkward when it came to being helped, and more often than not she was fixing up his cuts and bruises just like her mother and grandmother had showed her how to. It was the job of a young woman to take care of a gentleman after all. She decided to take the stern approach, as she so often had to, and she placed her hands on her hips, eyes narrowing.

"My name's Eleanor Rhodes, not Sheila. And mum said if you get a cut you should wrap it in a bandage. I don't have a bandage but I do have my scarf and maybe that'll help until I can get you home to look at you properly. It's dirty here and you might get an infection."

"Look, Eleanor... it'll- it'll ruin your scarf-"

"It's red anyway," she laughed, her brown eyes flickering up at him as a smile crept onto her face.

"Well, you can't take me home, it'll be fine."

The girl snapped her head up suddenly and her hands went right to her hips again, making him chuckle a little at how in a huff she looked, her face set with sudden determination that made the bunny stop dead in his tracks and focus on the little girl.

"Listen, my grandma was a nurse and I know that if you leave that cut then you'll get an infection, then your leg will have to be chopped off. I don't know about you, but I don't think you'll be able to carry on leaving Easter eggs if you have one less leg. Now I'm going to wrap your leg up, I'm going to take you home, I'm going to help you and you're going to let me. Understand?"

There wasn't really a question about it, the rabbit had no choice but to let the girl do as she wanted. He huffed a little but sat still as she wrapped his leg up with her scarf, stayed quiet as she helped him stand precariously on one leg and she served as his crutch while she sent the dog on ahead to keep him away from the Easter Bunny. Half way through the woods back to her home, he coughed pointedly and she looked up at him, carefully making sure to keep him supported and make sure they didn't trip over any roots.

"Listen, sunflower... thank you," he said quietly. "I know you... you like Easter. So I promise I'll sort something special out for you for helping me, okay?"

"That's fine sir," she smiled at the pet name he'd given her, focusing on the task on hand again. "By the way, is your name the Easter Bunny, or is it something else?"

He laughed, and pulled her into an awkward one armed hug that nearly sent both of them toppling over.

"My full name is E. Aster Bunnymund. But people just call me Bunny, mostly, or Aster."

"People being...?" she asked, feeling her excitement swell again. It kind of still hadn't hit her that she was helping a six foot tall talking rabbit get to her house, but him talking about what she thought he was talking about made her all that bit more light headed and giddy.

"People being Santa, or North as we call him, Tooth Fairy, Sandy... ya know?"

"Santa Clause?" she whispered, opening the back gate to her house and peering through. The back door was open, but there was nobody inside. It looked like her mother had forced George to come shopping with her since he'd not gone out hunting eggs with her.

"Blimey, this is daft," he muttered, but she shushed him as she told Roger to wait outside for them and she helped E. Aster Bunnymund inside.

After a struggle she got him upstairs to the bathroom and ran a considerable amount of hot water into a small tub, sitting him on the john before she pulled her coat off, kicked her boots to the side and threw her hat to the side too. Peeling the scarf from his leg she grimaced at how much blood there was but continued anyway. Grabbing a cloth she soaked it in the hot water, ignoring the sting and how she wanted to pull her hand back from the water, and she dabbed carefully at his fur, washing away the dirt and blood and cleaning the wound. She ignored his hissing and squirming as best she could and carried on until the wound was clean and ready to dry and be bandaged.

"You should be a nurse or something, like your nana," he laughed quietly, and she smiled, shaking her head as she continues wrapping him up.

"No, when I grow up I want to write stories."

"What about?" he asked, smiling down at her and relaxing as she wrapped his leg in a fresh clean bandage she found in her mothers' sewing box.

"About you, and the others," she whispered, flushing red. "About how you _are_ real."

There was silence as she finished bandaging him, and both sat there, feeling a little tense. Eleanor cast her eyes to the ground, feeling stupid, but suddenly she felt a hand on her head stroking her hair back, and she looked up to see him smiling down at her.

"I think that'd be wonderful."


	3. Chapter 3

Hey, thanks for reading :)

As always, I hope you enjoy and please drop a review with thoughts or whatever, cheers!

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Aster was sat on her bed looking a little unsettled, and Eleanor was sat beside him, looking equally tense.

"Do you think you can walk on it?" she asked quietly.

He tutted and looked at her, his green eyes narrowing.

"You just saw me fall over trying to get in here," he reminded her, and she smiled bitterly up at him.

He did indeed. It was barely a dozen steps from the bathroom down the hall to her room and he'd nearly gone down the stairs. It was her grabbing him by his arm and pulling him back that stopped him breaking his neck and God knew only how many other bones in his furry body. She felt slightly concerned that her mother or father would find him in her room, or George would embarrass her, and she decided to voice that fear.

"What if mummy or daddy find you in here?" she asked quietly, and he sighed slightly, biting his lip and scratching his nose while he thought of something to say to that.

"They won't... see love, the thing with children is they lose their belief in us as they grow up. Your brother for example always comes out on the egg hunt with you, but this year he decided not to. That's because he doesn't believe in me any more. Or North, or Tooth. He's grown up..."

"So nobody but me can see you?" she asked, perking up slightly, but feeling ever so sorry for her family deep down.

"Nope, I'm your little secret," he laughed, and she beamed up at him.

"Are you hungry at all? While you're here I have to keep you fed and everything."

"I'd die for a carrot, sunflower," he said, smiling at her, and they both burst out laughing as his stomach grumbled loudly as if agreeing with him.

She hopped up from her bed without another word and charged downstairs, nearly knocking George over as he came through the door with an armful of groceries.

"Hey, what're you in a rush for?" he asked, looking down at her with a small smile. "Still looking for eggs?"

"No, I gave up on that," she piped up, trying to get past but her brother hopped back and forth, blocking her way. "Please George, I want a carrot!"

"A carrot?" her mother asked, looking over George's shoulder. "Honey, you hate carrots."

"Not today I don't!" she cried, ducking under George's arm when she had the chance and skirting past her mother. "I want a really big carrot, I'm having a tea party."

"Okay then dear, just pull one up... would you like me to put a pot of tea on for you?" her mother asked, smiling kindly as her own brown eyes twinkled.

"No thank you," Eleanor replied, then she paused and looked up again at her mother, "but lots of water please, could you get George to go and put a jug of it on my bedroom floor. With two glasses?"

"Okay baby girl," her mother laughed, walking carefully inside, her hand rubbing her swollen belly.

She went ahead and pulled up two of the largest carrots she could find, before rushing in and begging her mother to clean them for her, and then she rushed upstairs to see George putting the pitcher on the floor as she asked and putting two glasses down beside it. Aster was in the corner looking a bit shell shocked.

"He just burst in here!" he cried, but George didn't seem to notice.

"Since when do you like water?" he asked curiously, "and carrots?" he added.

"Since today, I need to diet," she snapped, thinking about when Martin Dingle had called her fat last week and using it to her advantage. It was rich coming from the nine year old, he was the butchers boy and everyone wondered when he was going to have a heart attack.

"Who said that?" George snapped, his face setting and she recognised that 'older brother' look cross his face.

"Dingle," she replied with a shrug and instantly he was off, cracking his knuckles as he went.

"Ohh, sunflower, that was bad," Aster chuckled, accepting the carrots from her and biting the green off one of them. "I'll bet North'll know about that."

"North?" she asked, looking at him questioningly. She knew he'd said the name before and she had the faintest idea of who it could be he was on about, but she needed to be sure. He swallowed the lump of leaves before elaborating for her;

"Nicholas St. North, otherwise known as Santa."

"Ah..." she hummed, remembering he'd told her that briefly on the way to the house, but in all the rush she'd forgotten about it and felt a little silly for doing so.

There was silence for a long while after that, Aster eating his carrots and accepting pints of water from her while she watching him with wonder in her eyes. She heard her mother shouting at George for getting into a fight, and she heard as he was sent to his room. She watched the door as she heard him trudge up, and he stuck his head through the door to show he had a bit of a fat lip, but he was smiling.

"He won't call you again Nora, don't worry about it, you're not fat."

He went to his room swiftly after that, otherwise their mother would be really mad with him, and Aster chuckled slightly before trying to shift himself, only to wince at his leg.

"He's really looking out for you," he noted, turning himself with some difficulty so he was lying on the bed. He winced and nearly swore, but held his breath as Eleanor looked up at him with a soft smirk on her face. "It's Frosts' fault you know, this. He led your damned dog right to me. Knew it'd put a dingo up my tree."

"A dingo?" she asked, and he looked as if he were about to explain it, but waved his hand at her passively. She changed her tactic, and asked instead, "Frost?"

"Yeah, you know... well you might not... Jack Frost? Makes it cold and foggy and icy and mucks up my Easter Sunday's? Bloody prancer with a stick."

"Jack Frost is real?" she asked, her eyes shining.

"Course he is... but see, not enough people believe in him for him to be seen. You do, don't you? You must be the kid he was on about talking about him?" he asked, and Eleanor nodded fervently. "Well he heard you talk about him, came rushing to find me 'cos he knew I was about, and led that wild animal you have right to me. Daft thing saw me and attacked. I hate dogs..." he whined, and Eleanor leaned forward to pat him on the shoulder.

"It'll be okay, but you'll have to spend the night to rest your leg."

He went to argue, but she held up her hand and stopped him, smiling kindly at him as she petted him behind one of his long ears which made him close his eyes and hum a little.

"Only one night, just to let your leg get a bit of rest... then maybe you could see about going home tomorrow, if you're okay."

Aster just smiled as she continued stroking his head, but then he seemed to remember himself and nodded, brushing her hand away and patting her on her head, stroking her ruffled hair out of her eyes.

"Just one night, if that's okay."

"Of course it's okay!" she beamed, hopping down from the bed and standing in her bedroom door. "I just need to get a lot more water for you."

And with that, she ran off, leaving Aster to sigh slightly and lean back against the headboard, touching his leg gently and wincing aloud, cursing to himself and damning her dog to Pitch and back. The thing could drop for all he cared. He noticed the windows icing up next to him, and upon peering around saw the bright blue eyes of Jack Frost peering through at him, watched as a big smile was traced onto the window and with a laugh he was off, whirling away in the wind, leaving Aster to curse him. Seething, the large bunny leaned back again, folding his arms angrily before muttering;

"Jog on... ya bub."


	4. Chapter 4

OMG! I got loads of reviews :D

Thank-you all! I actually have 18 chapters written up, and I don't even know where this story is going. I have an idea in my head, and I like to imagine the whole planning this is like a garden. I know how much space I have to work with, I have a general idea in my head of how it's supposed to look, and bit by bit I'm planting stuff, letting it grow in, deciding if I like it or not and if I don't I turf it up, if I do I let it blossom. It's growing, it's going to be something wonderful, and I hope by letting everyone into my garden they'll enjoy it as much as I do :)

As always, enjoy, and if you like then please leave a review

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She rushed through her dinner, much to her parents surprise, as she hated cauliflower cheese on a normal day, and she rushed upstairs to get into her nightgown and get a wash before bed. It was only half past six at night, but she wanted to get back to Aster as soon as she could. She'd been out to the garden and pulled up two more carrots and a lettuce too, and snook them upstairs while her father was washing up from work, soot and ash swilling away down the drain and her mother was checking the pot on the fire. Aster was all too thrilled at them, thanking her and asking her politely to bring more water for him when she could.

Now she was rinsing the sink of leftover soot her dad had been too tired to bother about and she was scrubbing herself furiously with a bar of soap to get ready for bed. She finished washing, pulled her hair back into a ponytail with a hair elastic and brushed her teeth quickly. George was stood outside the bathroom door when she finished, and though she went to hop past him he grabbed her arm, and held her still.

"What's going on Nora? You normally never get ready this quickly."

"I just want to go to my room!" she said quickly.

"Why?" he asked with a laugh, his lighter hazel eyes twinkling mischievously at her.

"The Easter Bunny is in there, and I can't leave him alone for too long because he has a bad leg," she said quickly in a hushed whisper, knowing he wouldn't believe her but if he did he'd have the sense to be quiet about it.

And for a second it looked like he was going to believe her, his mouth dropped into a small 'o' shape and his eyes widened in wonder, as if imagining it. Then he shook himself, let go of her arm and laughed out loud.

"Okay Nora, you go play with the Easter Bunny then!" he laughed loudly as he went into the bathroom, shutting the door after him. Eleanor huffed slightly, but turned on her heel and went into her room where she saw Aster trying to shuffle off her bed.

"What're you doing?" She asked, shutting her door and rushing over to pull him gently back onto the bed. "You won't help your leg sleeping on the floor."

"If I take the bed where will you sleep?" he asked, narrowing those vivid green eyes at her. "I can't put you out a nights sleep Eleanor."

"I'll sleep in the bed too!" she chirped, pulling the cover over him and climbing in herself, snuggling into his fur. "You'll keep me extra warm, Jack Frost won't nip my toes tonight!"

Aster paused, but he chuckled, lying on his back with one arm under the girls head, acting as a pillow while she curled into his side, safe and sound. It was different, he noted, from the reactions he'd had from other kids. Some kids would freak out at seeing a six foot tall rabbit, whereas others tried insisting on catching him and keeping him. That was unsettling. But this one little girl had gone out of her way to help him, keep him safe and make him feel loved and... believed in. He'd heard her being so blunt with her brother about him being here, and it did hurt that George didn't believe in him any more, didn't see him. But she did. She was curled up next to him, her fingers clutching his fur and her face pressed up against him. He felt so much for this girl, so much of him was glad she was safe like this, and felt safe like this, because it was his duty to keep her safe. He was a Guardian and as long as children believed in him, he'd be there for them.

But he'd never before had a child protect him, fix him, better him and love him.

It was unsettling in itself, it was such a strong feeling that it scared him, but it slipped his mind when he saw the first few golden strands of sand seep in, and he knew Sandy was bringing her good dreams, and he watched. Normally the Sandman would create a perfect haven for the children, making all their wildest fantasies come true. But sometimes he'd let the children shape the sand, he'd told them, and he watched as miniature figures of him and Eleanor raced through tunnels, into what he could only describe as his Warren, but shaped in her own image. Not the open space it was but a giant burrow of sorts.

With the glow from the sand lighting her face up, he smiled to himself. It'd been years since he'd actually connected with children, talked to them and gotten to know them, and he'd had to start again with the most sassy, bossy but most caring six year old he could find. Eleanor was one of the most giving children he could remember talking about with the other Guardians. Tooth never failed to tell them how she always gave her baby teeth money to her parents without them knowing, and North always did love to list the children who never asked for much at Christmas, and she was always there. He himself had watched her and her brother for years, making sure they found a fair few eggs that were well placed but always staying out of eyesight. He wasn't sure what he'd been scared of, but somewhere along the way he'd shifted from enjoying his work to seeing it as only a duty, and it wasn't fair to children like Eleanor who believed in him, and children like George who'd had no choice but to stop believing in him unless he were to be ridiculed at school.

It was sad watching them grow up, but they all would eventually and then there'd be a new set of children to take their place. Watching Eleanor, he smiled. She believed for now, she dreamed about them all, and that'd do him fine for the next few years. Even if she did stop believing, she'd have children one day and tell them all about him and the others. All adults did and it kept them alive, kept them protecting the children that believed in them, and even fuelled the imagination of adults for a small while. He could always remember every face of a young mother who took her child hunting for Easter eggs only to catch a glimpse of him from the corner of her eye. She would always brush it off, think it was a trick of the light, but he remembered the gleam of childhood in their eyes again, the glint of innocence that always appeared.

The cycle would continue.

He watched as they ran about, their own miniature sand selves, and he smiled gently to himself before settling down and allowing old Sandy to take him away to his own dreams.


	5. Chapter 5

Another chapter :D I'm chuffed, I'm doing really well (for me) and I still don't have the foggiest where I'm going with this, but we'll sort that out at a later date, right?

It's funny, I've had a few people comment on how sassy Eleanor is, and how for a child in the early 1900's she's got a lot of attitude. I know it's not very typical of the era and all, but I focused Eleanor's personailty around that of my youngest sister when she was that age. So cute and fiery and bossy :3 I love my Hannah! She's brilliant, so who else could I base Nora on?

Anyway as always, I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review :D

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Eleanor woke up in the morning, stretched out and nuzzled back into the soft fur of E. Aster Bunnymund, who had apparently been awake for a small while as he smiled down at her groggy face and poked her nose.

"Morning sleepyhead," he smiled and she smiled back albeit half heartedly, lifting her hand and rubbing weakly at her eyes to get rid of the last of the sand. "Sleep well?"

"Yep," she sighed, smiling again with a little more gusto. "I had a good dream."

"I'll bet you did, what was it about?"

"You, we played all day then you brought me home and I went to sleep. And that's when I woke up."

Aster only chuckled, shifting slightly to free his arm which was dead under her head, and he shook it a little to try and get the blood flowing again. He wasn't used to sleeping on is back like he had, he normally curled up but with his damn leg and the child that had used him as a comforter the night before he hadn't really had a choice in the matter. Eleanor still looked reluctant to move, and had curled up into a tiny ball beside him, buried beneath the blankets, refusing to budge even when he nudged her and whispered for her to get up.

"Come on sweetheart, I need to be on my way today," he said very gently to her, and at that she peeked her head above the blanket, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Why?" she asked, pulling herself up and resting her back on the headboard.

"Well, I have to go back to the Warren, which is where I live, and make sure all my eggs got out there."

He watched her carefully. He noticed how the glitter in her brown eyes seemed to fade and the small frown that crept over her lips, but all that was gone in a second and she hopped up out of bed instead and held her hand out to him.

"We need to see if you can stand then. If you can walk a little then you can go home, but you'll have to get someone to change the bandage and clean your leg again tomorrow, unless you can do it yourself."

She seemed to know exactly what she was on about, and he found that both amusing and impressive. Not many children knew how to bandage legs, clean wounds and be so cool about the whole thing, and he must have been giving her a quizzical look because she smiled slightly at him, knowingly.

"My grandma was a nurse before she died, she showed me how to do a lot because George is always falling down."

Aster could only laugh, and with ease he swung his legs over and stood, albeit a little shakily, to which Eleanor nodded approvingly to. She gently touched his leg where the bandage was, making sure it was still clean enough to let him go before she reached up, stood on her tip toes and wrapped her arms around his middle.

"Take care of yourself Mister Bunnymund," she whispered and he felt his ears flatten at the sheer cuteness of the act, and he stooped to allow one arm to hug her back while the other stroked her hair out of her face.

"Mister Bunnymund was my father, call me Aster, or Bunny, whichever you prefer bub."

She stood back from him with a small smile on her face, before silently helping him hobble down the stairs and get out into the garden. There she gave him a wide berth, allowing him to open the tunnel to get him back to the Warren, wink at her, and then jump down. She watched it cover up again, and she smiled slightly to herself.

"Eleanor! What're you doing out there in your nighty?" her mother called from the back door, and upon turning around she saw her mother looking at her with both confusion and worry shining behind those brown eyes just like hers.

"I thought I saw a bunny, I just wanted to look," she replied smoothly, and her mother shook her head slightly, perplexed.

"Well come in baby, Jack Frost will give you your death of a cold if you stay out there!"

Her mother went in on that, and for a moment she stood smiling at the back door before turning back to the garden, looking briefly where Aster Bunnymund had jumped down the hole to the Warren, and then looking up to the woods which were still shrouded in fog.

"He wouldn't do that... would you Jack?" she whispered to the wind, turning to go in, but seeing out of the corner of her eye one lone snowflake whip past, and a laugh float back to her on the breeze, one that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up straight and her bones shiver, but she felt she could trust it, and laughed back a little, brushing her fingers against the frost covered rail up the steps to the house before going in to warm her feet by the fire her brother had set roaring up.

* * *

"The Easter Bunny not in your room any more?" George asked quietly at the dinner table that night, and Eleanor shook her head slightly.

"No, he had to go back to the Warren," she replied, ignoring the looks her parents were giving her. "He needed to check all the eggs had been delivered to each of the continents."

"Of course he did. I suppose that's why I didn't see him then, he hid under your bed or something?"

She put her cutlery down on her plate with a sharp clink and fixed George with a cold stare, her brown eyes seemingly freezing over. George stopped eating for a second, his fork half way to his mouth with a lump of broccoli on the end, and her father set his cutlery down too, picked up his napkin and dabbed at his mouth, waiting for a fight to erupt. Only her mother carried on eating, trying to act as if it wasn't about to happen.

"No, actually, George. He wouldn't fit under my bed, because he's taller than dad. He's Australian and Roger attacked him, so he had a bad leg and I had to take care of him."

She felt every eye on her at this point, and she bit the inside of her lip as her cheeks flushed red, anger building up inside her that her brother didn't believe her when only last year he believed in Santa and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. It made her upset and tears pricked at her eyes but before her father could calm her George already chipped in.

"How tall is he then, and was Father Christmas there too? You held a tea party for all of them did you?"

She lost her rag then, jumping up and knocking her chair back, tears spilling down her face.

"You're just stupid George! You don't see them because you don't believe in them any more!"

"That's because they're not real!" he shouted back, pushing his chair back similarly. "You need to start growing up Nora, you have no idea what's happening in the world do you?"

"George!" their father snapped, while his mother looked at him reproachingly. "That's hardly something to shout at the dinner table."

"Well it's true! She needs to accept that fact that they're not real, she's being a stupid little girl."

Choking slightly on her tears Eleanor staggered away from the table. Her father held a hand out to her, beckoning her back to him but she shook her head, brown tresses flying about her face and sticking to her damp cheeks, and with a sob she ran to the back door, wrenched it open and ran outside, aware that her father was shouting her and Roger was following closely on her heel. She ran right up to the woods, getting half way down the path before veering off into the thick of the woods, jumping over roots and whipping past twigs which flicked her bare arms and her cheeks, stinging them.

Roger whined as he followed, and she could tell he wasn't happy about following her into such dense wooded area, but she was past caring. She ran, stumbled and fell onto her hands and knees, crying.

She was only wearing a plain cotton blouse, and a black pleated skirt with knee high white socks and black loafers, but there was mud up her legs, her socks were wet and stained, her shirt was torn and the thread on her skirt was plucked up and out by the twigs. Her hair was a tangled mess of knots and leaves, her cheeks were flushed red and her eyes sore from the tears and the cold.

And it was cold. She only just realised she hadn't come out with a coat in her hurry to get away, and she shivered as she pulled her dirty and cut knees up to her chin and Roger cuddled up beside her, shaking slightly himself.

"They're real, aren't they Roger?" she asked in a hushed whisper. He only whined at her and lay his head on her shoulder, licking her cheek to get rid of the salty tears. "I didn't dream them at all, did I?"

Her mind reeled back to the overly realistic dream where E. Aster Bunnymund took her to a magical world of flowers, showed her his eggs, painted them with her and then took her home to tuck her back in bed before her parents noticed she'd been out all night. Could she have just dreamt up a huge Australian bunny rabbit? Her heart ached for a moment, her body ached, and slowly she thought about George's words, how he mocked her and shouted at her;

_'They're not real!'_

She felt like she wanted to throw herself to the ground and scream and cry, but her body protested movement, and it felt like there were no more tears left to cry. She sniffled slightly as she looked about the clearing she'd found herself in, barely illuminated in the dusk light. It all felt so familiar to her, and she felt something nipping at her arms, as if prodding her. She swatted at the air, barely registering that Roger was growling at something.

"Stop it Jack," she muttered, and she froze, and Roger froze, and the air around her seemed to freeze too. The wind waited on baited breath, and the world seemed to grind to a standstill waiting for her to register what she'd just said and done. She paused, looking around, her tears fading fast and her heart swelling. "Jack?" she asked, calling his name to the wind, and she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up on end as a happy laugh floated to her on the breeze, her heart filled with a rush and she smiled to herself. Jack Frost was here, somewhere and for some reason she couldn't see him.

If Jack was here, then it meant Aster was real, and George _was_ just being stupid.

"George is just a stupid face," she announced, smiling and standing up a little more proudly. "Come on Roger, we need to go home."

With a start Roger bound away, whipping through the trees back to the warmth that was promised inside her home, and though her legs protested, she walked after him all the while pushing branches aside and stepping over roots, climbing past fallen trees and walking until she was back on the main path.

Though her legs protested, she stood and walked grudgingly after him. Pushing branches aside and stepping over roots, climbing past fallen trees and walking until she was back on the main path again. Roger came pelting back towards her, with her father and George in tow who pulled her into a large hug together, both fussing over her and she stared on with a small smirk as George apologised profusely and her father told her off for running off like that, but told her how happy he was she was safe.

If any of them had cared to look back, they'd have seen sunflowers sprouting up after each footstep Eleanor took.


	6. Chapter 6

Eek! I love you guys for reviewing :D to my 'fan' who posted the EXTRA long and lovely review, the whole sunflower thing is quite deep, there's hints to it in this chapter, pay close attention to the dialogue :D Also look into the name Eleanor! I did a weensy bit of research for this story so far, and I'm loving all my 'easter eggs' (ohmigosh, pun TOTALLY intended!)

I HAVE A NEW COVER AND I DREW IT AND I LOVE IT :D  
Far too excited, but it's snowing! And earlier it was raining and everything looked green and I said out the window (more to myself than anything) 'If you make it snow, I promise I'll faceplant it tomorrow' and it's now a few inches deep. OMG. Jack listened :D

As always, enjoy :) please review x

* * *

At school people had continually teased Eleanor about her belief in the Easter Bunny and all those other 'fairy tales', even though she was only six years old. She found it sad, because they were all meant to be children, meant to have belief in magical things and stuff like that. As they teased her, she'd let it go, because with her new found knowledge she merely smiled at them and walk away with the small thought that they were on their way to the naughty list. She'd waited up every night to see if Aster would come back to see her, but in a sense she realised that being such an important figure to so many people all over the world would mean he was a very busy being. He wouldn't have time to come to her right away, though she was worried about how his leg was healing.

The days only seemed to be going slower as she waited and anticipated when he might next appear, and worry grew in the pit of her stomach when she remembered how badly his leg was injured. Maybe it had had to be cut off! What if there was no more Easter Bunny now because Roger had attacked him?!

She crawled into bed that night feeling overly exhausted for what a six year old should feel, and instead of thinking about what she'd leaned in school that day (simply how to bake a good cake from scratch) she found her mind buzzing as her mind raced over a hundred possibilities.

She wanted to stay up and wait for him, but the familiar sense of drowsiness washed over her, and she yawned over so slightly before she let the Sandman steal her away to sleep. It felt like she only blinked, but she awoke hours later to someone shaking her gently.

"George, I'm sleeping," she huffed, shoving her face in the pillow and smelling in that warm sand smell. Her pillow always reminded of her of the beach, and she didn't know why.

"Sunflower, wake up," she heard him whisper... but it wasn't George at all, and so quickly she could have toppled over she shot her head up and was looking into those warm emerald eyes of Aster again, and she felt happiness flow through her.

"Aster!" she cried, and the rabbit hushed her quickly, but she took no notice, leaping up from the bed and into his arms without a moments thought. He caught her just in time, a look of shock upon his face as she buried hers into his neck, grabbing fistfuls of his soft grey fur to keep him close.

"Crikey! Calm your socks, it's not the first time you've seen me," he laughed, hugging her close and holding her up, staring into those warm brown orbs that stared back, delight sparkling within them. His expression softened and he cradled her small frame in one of his long arms, the other reaching up to scratch his ears.

"It won't be the last time will it? Is your leg okay too?" she asked, and he looked down to see those chocolate eyes pooling with tears, concern showing so plainly on her childish features that it could of made his heart stop.

"No sunflower, it won't be the last time. You and me are mates now, yeah?" he soothed her, cradling her closer and wiping a few escapee tears from her face. "And my leg is loads better, all thanks to you."

She gave him a watery smile, the kind that made him want to hug her close and chase the fears away with her. The kind that made him glad he was a Guardian because only in these precious moments could he see how much he truly meant to the children of the world, and he realised how much they meant to him.

"Anyway, I owe you one from the other day don't I? You didn't manage to find any eggs because of our little to do. So I want to take you somewhere special," he started, carrying her slowly out of her room and down the stairs. Roger was at the bottom, and upon hearing the soft padding of Aster's feet and his voice soothing Eleanor, he had jumped up and was growling fiercely at the Guardian. Eleanor sat up in Aster's arms, looking quickly from the dog to the oversized rabbit, wondering what was going to happen. The dog was crouching on his back legs, as if ready to spring, and Aster's ears and whiskers were twitching, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Listen ya little snapper, I know you got the best of me once, but I think you're grossly underestimating how bad a beating I'll give you this time."

But Aster needn't have threatened the dog, because unbeknownst to them all in their state of extreme focus and tension, a trail of golden sand drifted through the air and gently wrapped itself around the dog. It was an amazing thing to watch, the dog looked so confused at first but he eventually slumped over sideways, drifting into sleep while Aster and Eleanor stared on in surprise.

"Thanks Sandy," the bunny whispered, holding Eleanor close as he tip toed out the door and into the garden.

"Where are we going?" she asked, barely able to keep her voice levels down.

"To the Warren," he smiled back. "You'll be the first little girl ever to go there, and it has to be kept a secret, okay?"

"I promise!" she swore solemnly, but inside she was brimming with delight. It was just like her dream! She was going to the Warren with Aster just like in her dream and she felt as if all her energy was rushing back to her, all her efforts to keep believing in her childhood heroes was paying off right then and there, in the most fantastic of ways. She was only vaguely aware that Aster had shifted her so she was instead latched onto his back, she registered somewhere along the line that she was being told to hold on tight, and then all of a sudden there was a whooshing sound in her ears, the feel of the wind beating her face and then it stopped. She toppled off his back onto cool grass, felt dappled sunlight hit her face and warmth flood through her.

Sitting up she looked around, her mouth dropped open and her eyes grew as large as saucers.

"Welcome, sunflower, to the Warren."

Everything was... green. The colour emerald overwhelmed her, but it felt warm and welcoming, drew her in and made her want to roll about in the long grass and sit on the moss covered boulders. Made her want to climb the trees and pick the blossoms, lie down and sleep in this warm haven forever.

"It's so pretty..." she gasped, standing up and smoothing down her nightgown while trying to look composed, but there was so much to take in.

"See, over here is where the eggs are painted," Aster showed her, taking her hand and walking her slowly over to where hundreds of bluebells stood, poised and ready. "The flowers spray them with paint, it's quite good really."

He showed her the tunnels to the surface that the eggs went down, he showed her the egg warriors, great living stone beings that were loyal to him and the other Pookas when they were alive. Since he was the only living one left, they all followed him. He showed her the eggs that ran along on their little legs, laughing as she tried to catch them.

"It's all so amazing," she whispered, curled into his side again, grasping his fur and settling down to sleep.

"It's better before Easter. You should see how the place runs! Better than any Santa's workshop, I'll tell you that!"

Eleanor could only smile as her brown eyes closed slowly, sleep taking her finally. The bunny went rambling on about how everything came to be here, how they were under the Red Rock in Australia, deep underground in the outbacks. How it was a safe place to be, nothing could get in without his say so and nothing got out. How the place helped him prepare for Spring and helped him ready himself to bring new hope to the world, as he was meant to. It took a soft sigh from her to notify him that she'd dozed off, and he only smiled gently down at her sleeping form before standing and scooping her up in his arms carefully.

She nuzzled against him, and carefully he navigated the tunnels and eventually came up outside her house again. The sun was peaking over the horizon, and he went slowly upstairs, stepping over Roger on his way although a large part of him wanted to step on the dog out of sheer spite. He help back though, and got the little tyke to bed without any fuss or muss.

Covering her with her duvet, he left a soft kiss on her forehead and a chocolate egg on her bedside table.

"See you next Easter sunflower, take care of yourself."


	7. Chapter 7

Another chapter :D enjoy and please leave a review and also, what do you think of my cover? I drew it, ever so proud :3 It's supposed to be Eleanor when she reaches abour 17, aw, a young lady! (though not dressing in the general early 1900 sense, my bad)

* * *

"Aster, I don't know about you but I'm bushed."

The Pooka Guardian looked up from his eggs and smiled at the young girl before him who after so long together had learned his way of talking. It had been several years since Eleanor had rescued him from her dog, taken him in and nursed him back to health. The girl he's known those years ago was six, but now she was fourteen years old. She'd blossomed well and truly. Her eyes were shaped like almonds, the colour reminded him of warm chocolate and oak trees, whereas the hair cascading down her shoulders and back was the colour of ebony, but in some lights it shone gold and red like the sun. She was thin and tall, and though she hadn't developed much of a figure in her prepubescent years, she still received a lot of attention from the boys, a lot of which Aster warned her against.

At this point in time the six foot rabbit was trying to focus on painting eggs, but his evergreen eyes were narrowed to slits and he felt anger bubbling inside him so much so that he couldn't focus. In the end he tossed down the paintbrush, barely bothering to take in the last few words Eleanor was saying.

"Anyway, Martin asked me if I wanted to go on a picnic this weekend-"

"And you can't," the Guardian snapped, feeling his fur bristle. The look of shock on Eleanor's face made him pause in his thoughts. It dawned on him that this might not be the best way to approach the situation, but he'd started now.

"And why can't I?" she asked, looking hurt and appalled, flicking her hair from her face and crossing her arms.

"Firstly flower, he's three years older than you, and seventeen year old boys only ever have one thing on their mind, and it's nothing you want to be thinking about, ever."

Nora looked absolutely flabbergasted, her hand flying to her mouth and clamping over it, as if she was physically holding back some retort from him.

"Secondly, this kid used to bully you! He's not a good guy!"

At this Nora found her voice again, but it seemed weak and strained.

"We were kids back then! It's been eight years since he bullied me, since George knocked his teeth out-"

"Yeah, and we all remember that. Lastly, you can't go anywhere this weekend, you promised me you'd go to the egg hunt!"

The chocolate haired girl stood up swiftly, looking furious. Aster mimicked her movements, towering over her but in no way intimidating the young girl. She had him wrapped around her little finger, for the most part. They got into their arguments, but non were so bad as they ever went toe to toe like they were now. Her brown eyes bore into his green ones, both expressing anger and hurt to one another, but hers held something more, something akin to betrayal and he knew it. He saw it and he was regretting his decision immediately. Before he could back off though, step down and say sorry or even so much as flatten his ears down in shame she opened her mouth and she had her say.

"Who are _you_ to tell me not to go on a damned picnic, Aster Bunnymund? Martin is a nice guy, he's never even looked at me in a suggestive way and you're insinuating he wants to jump in my pants at a bloody picnic?! That's disgusting! And to say I can't go because it's Easter Sunday, I had _actually_ told him to meet me on the Saturday. Oh, but because you're the Easter Bunny and a _Guardian_ and you're obviously more important I'm meant to clear my plans for the whole weekend to spend it with you? Just to sit here and take all the rubbish you spout because you're stressed? _I don't think so Aster_."

She hissed her last words, and stormed past him, shoulder barging him and kicking a basket of painted eggs as she went. They all scattered and the majority broke, and for a second she looked as if she were going to say sorry, but at a glance she saw the furious look on Bunnymund's face and she scowled again, but a second later her expression softened and her eyes seemed less steely, more sad, withdrawn.

"I'm here, because I still believe in you. Because I'm holding onto wonder and hope... don't make me regret that Aster."

She simply followed a tunnel out, leaving Bunnymund to fall back onto his hind legs, holding his head in his paws and looking bleakly around at the broken eggs strewn across the grass, and the remnants of his friendship.

Storming from the woods down to her garden path she watched as her younger sister Mary played in the back yard with some of her friends. She was livid with Aster, but upon seeing the bright hazel eyes of her eight year old sister and the auburn ringlets that framed her face, she couldn't help but smile.

"Nora!" the child cried, racing towards her, dress dirty and torn around the edges, mud caked her hands and streaked her face, and it took her a moment to recognise what the little one was showing her when she held it out in her hand. "I lost a tooth!"

Pushing her anger at one Guardian from her mind, she beamed at the thought of another. Toothiana, or Tooth, quite simply, was the Tooth Fairy. Nora had been lucky enough to meet her a few times after losing the last of her baby teeth when she was twelve, after a six year old Mary and slammed a door in her face and clocked her in the mouth with the doorknob. Tooth was the most beautiful being she'd ever laid her eyes upon, with beautiful glossy feathers covering her body in the most striking teals and greens and pinks. She was like a bird, but human sized, and she was also one of the kindest, most compassionate people Nora knew.

"You're going to put that under your pillow right?" she asked the child, but was only met with a confused look.

"Why? Everyone at school says there is no Tooth Fairy," Mary replied sadly, casting her eyes down.

"No Tooth?! That's impossible. You tell me how you get threepence under your pillow every time you lose a tooth."

"I don't know," she child replied with a small smile. "I never see her though!"

"Have you ever seen a million pounds?" Nora asked cooly, watching Mary's eyes widen slightly at the thought.

"No..."

"No, and neither have I. But it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I've seen the Tooth Fairy once or twice though, you know."

"You have?!" Mary screamed, jumping up and down, her hair flying about wildly as Nora tried to calm her.

"Course I have! She's beautiful you know... she lives in Asia, in a palace in the sky, and all the teeth contain memories from when we're little... she keeps them safe for us Mary."

"You tell me that all the time," the girl whined, to which Nora smiled gently and patted her on the head.

"Because it's true!" Nora cried, kissing Mary atop her head before striding past. She made her way into the kitchen, sighing as she thought over the fight with Aster and what she could have said to make it less terrible than it was. It seemed really petty and trivial, she thought, as she got a glass of water, but recently he'd been becoming more protective over her. She liked to think that it was because she'd spent her whole life believing in him, and he was just trying to keep her safe, but there was giving advice and insulting her friends, and he'd overstepped completely. It wasn't just that he insulted Martin though! He's basically insulted her intelligence by assuming she didn't know what the seventeen year old was after. Martin Dingle was a nice enough boy, but he was ten pence short of a pound. A bit thick, a bit selfish and very arrogant, he'd only asked her out for an Easter picnic to try and spite George after the bust up they'd had years ago. George had moved out two years ago and settled down with Irene, a lovely young girl, very homely, and they were married with their first baby on the way. At twenty two George had everything going for him, a good job, his own house, a wife and soon to be new baby. But he was still ever so protective over his little sisters and would see to it that nobody upset them. This was exactly the case with Martin now.

Washing the glass out and walking slowly upstairs she realised how nastily she'd reacted to Aster, kicking his eggs over when he was already so stressed and so close to the Easter deadline! God, she felt terrible now, but she could hardly go back right away after a fight like that! It wouldn't be a good idea because they both needed to cool off now.

She needed to cool off. It made her angry that her closest companion of the last eight years didn't trust her. She might only be fourteen but she was far more mature than her age and she never let anyone take advantage of her, under any circumstances. And truth was, she had a soft spot for the old furball. He'd been so good to her over the years, she wasn't sure when she stopped seeing him as friend and protector, and started seeing him as an incredibly witty, caring and selfless being as he was. She didn't know when she'd made that transition or what it meant, but she'd come to the conclusion that she definitely had a schoolgirl crush on him, if anything.

She had a crush on a six foot tall rabbit, that was supposed to be something purely fairytale. Because that didn't make it sound like she needed to go to an asylum.

Dropping her head down to her pillow, she choked a little, and then a sob escaped, rapidly followed by another one and another until she was crying into her pillow, feeling absolutely rotten about everything.

If it wasn't enough that she had fallen out with the Guardian, she was also more than aware of the tension within Europe over Germany, Austria and Hungary, as there were disagreements over something or other. It was a dark time, and people became more worried by the day over what could happen. Her father had spoken quietly about gossip in the mine, as one of his work mates brothers' was in parliament and told him a lot of the gossip from there. Apparently there were worries over planned assassinations, as some telecommunication had been intercepted. She wasn't sure where it was all going on, but Germany had been bullying some of the smaller nations around it, which was making everyone worried.

She knew if something happened, she wasn't sure what, that it would make things very hard for the Guardians. How would they keep hope, wonder and happiness alive in countries that were fighting? It worried Eleanor, because she knew if people stopped believing, then the Guardians wouldn't exist.

The process made her grimace, it felt like they had to persuade children to believe in them nowadays with gifts, whereas when she was little, which wasn't so long ago, she just innately believed in them and wished to see them and loved them irrevocably. They _were_ her childhood, not just a fairytale.

Rolling over she moaned a little and lifted her arms to tangle her fingers in her long hair. It made her sad thinking about fights, especially when she'd just had one with Bunnymund when she really didn't want to. It was just the way he seemed so overly protective of her, so against her doing anything that normal teenage girls did. She was allowed to court a young man, her mother had sat her down and told her about how significant it was to find a suitable young man who would love her and take care of her. She knew Martin Dingle wasn't that suitable young man, but she figured if she went on a date with him it might make other boys her age see that she was available, and they might ask her out at some point too. She just hoped that it wouldn't attract the wrong sort of young man, otherwise she'd have to become a recluse until people forgot about it all.

She hated thinking about all of this, it seemed to pointless anyway, especially when she was only fourteen years old! She was still a young girl!

She stood up and looked about her room, which seemed sad and droll with all absence of half painted Easter eggs, no pictures of six foot tall bunny rabbits or half human half hummingbird hybrids tacked to the walls. She'd drawn so much as a child, believed so strongly in her Guardians that she knew were real that her parents became concerned at age twelve, sent her to see her school nurse who spoke gently and asked her why she still believed in them. She didn't speak a word to the woman, and that night Aster came to her, spoke gently to her, comforted her.

"_My parents think I'm a loon!" she whispered, her head resting in the crook of his neck while he held her in his lap, hugging her. It was different now she was growing up, he couldn't pick her up in his arms like he used to, so they settled for this._

"_But you're not sunflower," he soothed, touching his cold nose to her forehead briefly, trying to calm her tears and stop her trembling._

"_They're going to have me committed!" she cried, sobbing into him, his fur damp with her tears. He hated seeing her like this, but there was nothing really he could do. This happened sometimes, children would believe so strongly and parents would worry because it seemed like their child wasn't growing up._

"_They won't, ya sook, now hush and listen..." and she did, she wiped her tears away and after a moment of hiccups and deep breathing she was calm, looking up at him with sad, puffy red eyes._

"_This happens sometimes, and the best thing you can do is... is say you don't believe. Say you were only playing on it to keep little Mary happy."_

"_But I do believe in you!" she whispered hoarsely, her eyes growing wide in disbelief at what he was saying and looking very irritated with him._

"_And I know that flower, I know. And you know in your heart you believe, and that's all that matters. But to keep ya' mum and dad happy, just say you don't. It doesn't matter, just say you don't and it'll all work out okay."_

It did too, she said exactly as Aster told her to and the matter seemed to disappear, people accepted that she was playing for a child, helping her sister see the magic of it all, but they didn't seem to see the clouds in her eyes when she lied, the small twinkle in those brown orbs whenever they smiled at her after she said what they needed to hear that screamed the truth at them. The magic was there, she was just keeping it hidden.

Just like she always had, just like she always would. Nothing would stop her believing in the Guardians and a lump formed in her throat when she remembered how cruelly she'd spoken to her old friend.

"_I'm holding onto wonder and hope... don't make me regret that Aster._"

Tears sprung to her eyes again and she wiped them away angrily. She'd let everything calm down and she'd go to see him again this weekend, she'd find him by any means.


	8. Chapter 8

I feel I have a few things to clear up. Our wee Eleanor was born in the summer of 1899, so as each Easter sunday from that comes up, she is the age of the last two digits. So Easter of 1900 she was 0, Easter of 1901 she was 1, so on so forth. So our 14 year old Eleanor is currently residing in the year of 1914! :D

Of course, that'll change come 21st June 1914, when she'll turn 15. And it's also the year of WW1, or the 'Great War', as it was known back then, as they didn't know there'd be another one to follow it.

Also, to the Fan, Aster isn't as dense as he's coming across, but obviously she's still a young girl and it'd be wrong to feel anything else for her! At the moment, his feelings are purely paternal and protective. Eleanor however is experiencing what most young ladies do at age 14 and is crushing on somebody she shouldn't. Poor Nora... The sunflower thing was Asters' way of showing he is there. The name Eleanor derived from old times, means 'sun-ray' or something along the lines, and of course what flowers do you find in summer that look like the sun?! Sunflowers :D hence the nickname. Her hair is just that fantabulous blend of brown, red and blonde that makes up auburn. Nothing else. All questions answered?

Righto then chaps, onto the story!

As always, please leave a review for the poor wee author x

* * *

The pair of them walked quietly through the wood, and she listened to Martin chatter on about working in the factory, smiling slightly at how emphatic he was, waving his hands about and nearly dropping the basket a time or two. It surprised her when he turned up at her house with his hair neatly brushed, he had a small smile on his face as he asked her how he looked. She could only smile and blush at him, because Martin Dingle really did look quite handsome. He'd changed through puberty, and where he once was a chubby, arrogant prat, he'd thinned out, grown taller, looked nicer and acted nicer too. It made her wonder if Aster was really right about him being after 'one thing' when he treated her so nicely. He was wearing a pair of black slacks, shined black shoes and a button up shirt that was tucked in nearly all the way around, just one of the corners of the front of the shirt was left hung out, which gave him a tidy, but casual look overall. His suspenders weren't over his shoulders, and he had a bright red checked blanket draped over his arm and over the basket.

She herself wore a long red skirt, black ankle boots and black stockings, and she was wearing a lovely white crisp, cotton shirt that was tucked into the skirt at her waist. He said she looked stunning, and she could only smile a little in return. It didn't help that Mary was stood in the kitchen behind her singing 'Martin and Eleanor sitting in a tree-' as children did, and she left the house with her face looking almost as red as her skirt.

As they walked up into the woods she noticed how occasionally Martin would take a path leading them a little further away from the main track each time, but when she asked him about it he only smiled gently and reassured her that he knew the perfect place for a nice picnic. They came out into a small glade where lavender was growing all about them and the grass was long but dry, despite the trees hanging overhead that only let a little light shine through. He lay down the blanket, and it seemed like the perfect cushion for them both.

"I have sandwiches, cake and I even managed to sneak something special out," Martin smiled at her as she sat down upon the checked blanket and smoothed her skirt out. The Saturday afternoon was crisp and warm, which was a pleasant surprise as the past few Easters had been shrouded in the fog Jack oft brought with him, just to annoy Bunnymund.

"Should I ask what that special something is?" Eleanor asked hesitantly, brushing her hair behind her ears with her fingers gently and keeping an eye on everything Martin did. He'd been a lot nicer to her over the years, ever since George got into a fight with him.

"It's a surprise," he said with a wink, before offering her a sandwich and tucking in after her. They spoke nicely together, talking about politics and schooling, what Eleanor wanted to do with her life and where he aimed to go. She told him how she longed to be a writer, had since she was a child, and he told her he'd always wanted to go into the army, which is why he'd put such an effort into him losing weight. They'd been friends for years, so they knew a lot about one another, could chat together without much effort, the only thing they hadn't gone into before was their deepest desires, secrets and thoughts.

"I was always very mean to you," he said quietly, after their third or forth sandwich. "I think it's because I was unhappy with myself, I just wanted someone else to feel that too."

Nora felt very uncomfortable thinking about that, wasn't sure if she wanted to go into the darker area of his past when this was meant to be a jovial picnic. She set her food down carefully and slowly reached over to lay her hand on his.

"It... it's okay you know Martin. You don't have to tell me, I don't mind."

He looked up at her, and his grey eyes bore into her brown ones and before she knew it he was holding her hand properly, and though it felt acceptable, nice even, she didn't know where he was going with it and she felt unease rise in her slowly.

"You've always been so nice to everyone," he said very quietly, his eyes never once leaving hers, the grip on his hand becoming more firm as his thumb began to trace circles over the back of her hand. "I remember listening to you when you told little children stories about fairytale things. The Easter Bunny was always your favourite."

"He still is," she whispered, leaning away slightly as he leaned in. "Martin, it's getting dark, I think you should take me home soon."

"Don't worry, I will Nora," he smiled slightly, letting go of her hand and turning back to the wicker picnic basket. As he looked inside he didn't hear her breathe a sigh of relief, or see her tense figure relax somewhat. He didn't notice the rustling in the trees or how her eyes darted about after it, or how she bit her lip in worry. "But first for the surprise."

He pulled out a bottle of wine, and two glasses. Winking at her surprised expression, chuckling at the fact her mouth had dropped open, he went to open it, but her hand flew out and she stopped him.

"I can't drink that! I'm only a girl!" she cried, going to stand, but he moved quicker, grabbing her wrists and keeping her sat down.

"It doesn't matter, look it's not that strong and it warms you up. You only have to have a sip."

"No! I don't want to!" she shouted, tugging at her trapped wrists but he was having non of it, and Dingle held on to her.

"Nora please calm down!" he shouted, and she settled immediately at the volume of his voice. There was a flicker of aggravation in his eyes, the corner of his mouth twitched, and she gulped nervously. "Please, I wouldn't do anything bad to you Nora, just trust me."

"Okay," she whispered, pulling her hand gently from his grasp and smoothing her hair back. "Okay, I trust you."

His face broke out into a smile and she gulped as he poured her a glass of wine and pressed it into her hands. She went along with it, raising it to her lips and taking a small sniff of it before grimacing, but taking the smallest sip anyway. She regretted it instantly, as the taste was so rich but sour she almost spat it out again, but the look on his face made her gulp it down, shuddering.

"You might as well drink a little, even at your age," he said quietly, sitting back with is own glass, sipping on it. "There's a shit storm brewing abroad, and I can bet you we'll be sucked into it."

Nora pulled a face slightly at the language he used, but ignored him, staring into the red liquid. Stomach churning, she knew it was going to do a funny one on her, but took a deep breath and lifted the glass again to pretend to drink from it, narrowing her eyes a little to look at his reaction under her long lashes. He looked incredibly smug, and with a sinking feeling she realised Aster could have been right, and he had perhaps lured her out here to... but that was ridiculous. She'd known Martin Dingle for years, and he wasn't capable of something so terrible.

Deciding not to take any risks though, she adjusted the way she sat, rolling onto her knees so her feet were against the ground and ready to spring up at any moment.

"Martin, may I top my glass up?" she asked, showing him the half full glass and smiling sheepishly at him. He nodded enthusiastically, almost too much so, and he reached over with the bottle to do it for her. "No, don't worry! I can do it," she smiled, taking the bottle from him and turning it in her hands so she had hold of the neck of the bottle, and a good grip on it.

Then she bounced up, threw the bottle at him hitting him in the stomach and sending him sprawling on his back before she turned and whipped away, running full pelt through the forest. She felt the wind rush up behind her, pushing her on, and all of a sudden the fog rolled in and gave her the cover only nature could offer. The grass beneath her feet iced up with frozen dew and she went crunching her way down the grassy path, trying to get to the main path to make her escape.

"_Run_," the breeze seemed to whisper to her, blowing her hair around her face, and something on the wind seemed to be pulling her sleeve, trying to turn her in a certain direction. Her mind was racing and the more she thought about having to run the more her body protested. The wind rushed up on her back, beating her and trying to force her on, her hands turned to ice and it felt like something was grabbing them. She felt too weak to resist, but she wasn't strong enough to carry on either.

She could hear heavy footfalls behind her, and panic rose in her throat and she tried to keep running, but her legs froze, became heavier like lead and almost impossible for her to pick up in her fear. She stopped and fell to the floor, collapsing onto her knees and tangling her hands in the grass while she waited for Martin to ambush her.

Then arms wrapped about Nora's waist, heaving her up, and a scream ripped from her throat and she felt a rushing sound. The wind was gone, the cold was gone, it was warm, and green, and she felt safe... but terrified, hurt and so badly shaken. The girl trembled as warm arms wrapped about her, pulling her close while that familiar voice hushed her, soothed her, stroked her hair and pressed a cold damp nose against her forehead.

"It's okay sunflower... I've got ya..."


	9. Chapter 9

Another chapter for you lovely folk :) please read and review, taa x

* * *

He'd not let go of her since he'd pulled her down the burrow to the Warren in the forest near her house, like he was scared she'd fall apart if he did. His arms held her close and he showed no sign of letting up, though after a small while when her sobs turned into hiccups and then yawns, she started shoving at his chest gently.

"Aster, please, let go," the brunette asked him gently, prying his arms from around her and shifting away to kneel in front of him, looking thoroughly shame faced. He watched curiously as her brown eyes cast themselves downwards, tears welling up there, her chocolate locks falling and hiding those bonny orbs from him, and her fingers entwined together, wringing themselves. "I'm really sorry," she whispered, choking on the lump that had formed in her throat.

"Why?" he asked, shuffling forwards and crouching low on his hind legs, ducking to try and get a peek of her face.

"Because you were right, and I shouted at you," she mumbled, and he watched as a few tears fell from her eyes and dampened her shirt.

"It doesn't matter about that," the rabbit said quietly, hushing her and shuffling forward a little more, putting one hand under her chin and lifting her face up to see her watery eyes and tear stained face. He brushed his hand against her cheek, drying it, before repeating the action with her other cheek. "Things happen and we learn to move on, sunflower... and I won't ever let anything bad happen to you."

She was quiet, looking up at him with those big eyes, still looking very sad, and he knew he had to cheer her up somehow, the Guardian just wasn't sure how. Biting his lip, he looked up and around the Warren, at all the pained eggs just waiting to go out into the world and he sighed a little, knowing that though he only had a few hours to prepare and how important it was for him to get this job done, how crucial it was for him to keep the hope alive within children, part of him just wanted to stay and help Nora feel better.

"Jack it," he muttered, running his hand over his ears and looking back at Eleanor, who looked absolutely perplexed. "I have a few hours until I need to go, lets get you cheered up."

"You don't have to, you're really busy," she muttered, and Bunnymund felt himself deflate a little, he walked up to her, resting his hand on her shoulder and rubbing it gently.

"Ya wanna go home nipper?" he asked, trying to sound sympathetic but he couldn't hide the sound of disappointment from his voice, and something flickered in those brown eyes of hers and she looked up at him, biting her lip a little before she shook her head slightly.

"No, I want to stay here."

Bunnymund smiled slightly at this, reaching out and taking her hand before pulling her up, walking with her through the Warren, under the stone arches and across the soft banks of the streams of paint. She only stopped briefly to pull her boots and stockings off, and she smiled a lot more when he feet were buried in the grass and moss, her toes curling and feeling the tickling sensation of the green plants. She looked up at Aster and noticed he was watching her with a small smile on his face and his own emerald eyes were glossed over, as if he were in deep thought. He looked so impressive. She'd always thought so but what could she say or do? He was her best friend... and in a rush it came back to her how they'd fought, argued and bickered over this date she had with Dingle and he was completely right and she'd been quick to shove it down his neck... Martin hadn't actually made a move to do anything, but he had pressured her into drinking when she really hadn't wanted to, and that was terrible of him. She thought of how Aster had just blown it off and acted as if the whole tiff was nothing when she'd been upset, but she did genuinely want to make it up to him, want to give a sincere apology.

"Aster, can we talk?" she asked quietly, dropping her boots to the ground beside her and dragging her fingers through her long brown hair, pulling it back out of her face and behind her ears. She knew it kept it out of the way this way, and she liked it better. Aster stopped stock still and turned to her, his nose twitching curiously as he looked at her, but shrugged his agreement and sat down on the soft ground, watching as she lowered herself down slowly, spreading her skirt out around her and pulling her legs under herself to make herself more comfortable.

"I really do want to apologise for my behaviour the other day," Nora started, and when Aster went to stop her she held a hand up, asking him wordlessly to listen, and though he seemed very reluctant, the rabbit settled down again, watching her intently with his vibrant eyes. "I spoke very cruelly to you, I said some things I really do regret, and I don't deserve the kindness you're showing me now."

Eleanor paused, biting her lip slightly before looking up at him, her brown eyes piercing his green ones, boring into them, sussing him out.

"You're my best friend Aster, I don't want to ruin that," she finished, her voice barely above a whisper and tears suddenly leaking from her eyes again. Before the Pooka could move to comfort her she'd already thrown herself across the gap between them and into his arms, burying her face in his soft fur and bawling her eyes out. The Guardian could only shush her gently and stroke her long brown hair back, trying to calm her.

"Sunflower, I told ya not to worry about it," he started, smiling brightly when she looked up at him with teary eyes. "I understand why you got mad, it's not up to me to mess in your life. I just want you to be safe, it's my job to keep you safe."

"I thought it was your job to hide eggs around the world?" Nora giggled, wiping her tears away with the hem of her skirt and smiling up at the rabbit.

"Don't be smart, now come on, I've gotta figure out what to feed ya," he sighed, standing up with the fourteen year old still clinging onto him, laughing as she squealed her protests before jumping down from his arms and sticking her tongue out at him, crossing her arms and feigning looking mad.

"I'm not hungry, I've just eaten at that stupid picnic," she muttered, shrugging her shoulders and tossing her hair back, picking her black boots off and setting off again down the mossy banks to where she knew the heart of the Warren was. There was a large pond in the middle of the Guardians' home, and in the middle on a small island was a mound of earth, with a burrow leading down to his nest and resting place after a busy day, or an especially busy Easter. Around the pond there were large weeping willows, in the most warm and delicate pinks, greens and silvers, the bark covered in moss and beautiful flowers, rooting into the wood and blossoming up and around the branches. The light in this place seemed more intense, and as she felt Aster's presence behind her she turned and saw him watching her, his eyes clouded with thought, his ears flat against his back, brow furrowed, body tense. The air seemed thicker with scent of Spring, dew and damp and sweet scents of flowers both native and exotic to her filled her nose, making her feel sleepy. The light streamed through from up ahead, warming her through, making her eyes close, and with that she sat down slowly, lay back and rested.

The sense of hope filled her chest, clutched at her heart and made her gasp for breath. But she smiled, her cheeks flushed red and she felt warm and happy, and this was where she wanted to stay. Her childhood flooded back to her, she remembered days she'd spent here, running with Aster, but never had she gotten so close to the heart of the Warren, he was always so protective of it, so secretive.

And he watched her, knowing everything she thought and felt, because it would just be happiness, and nostalgia. People found their childhood the best place to seek hope, as that is where it's most present. She would be thinking of the past and the present and the future, and nothing looked bad. Here, so close to the heart of the Warren, was the strongest place on the Earth where you could feel hope. Hope lived here, embedded itself in this place and in his own heart, made him secretive and protective because so, so many tried to break this feeling, break the hearts of millions thus break him. Never had he let anyone, not even another Guardian, so close to this place... but he'd allowed Eleanor to freely stroll through, and lie there, basking in the warmth.

And he felt happy with that. If it was just the glow of the place getting to him or not, he didn't know, but he didn't mind Eleanor being there or lying there, sleeping and resting and being happy. He crept forward, leaning over and creeping forward on all four limbs, stretching out and lying on his stomach, legs sprawled out behind him, arms crossed as he rested his chin on them, closing his eyes before the brown haired girl spoke up.

"You know what's missing here?" she asked quietly, turning to him as he opened his eyes again, her almond eyes focused on him, piercing him.

"What?" he asked her, lolling his head to the side and making himself comfortable. He watched as she smiled slightly, her hair tossed about her head like a halo, the browns shimmering in the light and casting all blondes and reds back up to him.

"Fireflies," she whispered, beaming at him. "You need fireflies."


	10. Chapter 10

I have gained myself one rather exciteable kit from America, so hello you, you know who you are :)

As always, please read and enjoy, and review if you could.

Also, I have another RotG fic up 'Slave to Darkness'... kind of grim, very strange, please check it out and I'm considering doing a part 2, so what do you think? :D

Anyways, tata!

* * *

"Happy birthday Eleanor!" Mary shouted, and the now fifteen year old girl pulled her eight year old sister into a warm hug, accepting the crudely wrapped gift and setting it aside just as George walked in, beaming at her. His mop of brown hair had been combed neatly to the side, and though she was happy to see him a small frown fixed on her face. There was no sign of his wife Irene or their baby girl.

"Why looking so glum, Nora? Aren't you happy to see me?" the man asked, pulling his sister into a hug and kissing her atop her head affectionately.

"Of course I'm happy George, but where's Irene?" she asked, accepting the heavy package he pressed into her hands and he shrugged slightly, looking passive.

"Her mother is ill, so she went to see her, she sends her love though," he smiled, and she saw in his warm hazel eyes that he wasn't lying. She could read George like a book, but her attention was quickly diverted by their younger sister pulling on her arm, swinging her around again to stare at the crinkled gift.

"Open mine Nora! I spent all my baby tooth money this year on it for you!" she cried, hitting at her playfully and dodging when Nora swiped back at her laughing. The glitter in her eyes stayed there, and while she put the heavy package down she reached out and absent mindedly tugged at the strings around the smaller package her mind drifted off to think about the promise Aster had made her a few months ago. After he'd had a bit of a hibernation period to rest after Easter, he would come celebrate her birthday with her, at least the night of it since the day she was spending with her family. She snapped back to attention when she finally managed to untangle the mess of string and pull the paper from the gift to see a small, plain wooden box. A very small jewellery box. The wood was burned in a particular pattern that looked like the sun, and the edges of the box were decorated in the same burn engraved pattern, sunflowers, and her heart was touched as she opened it, seeing a long thin golden chain that at the bottom had a small pendent of the sun.

"Mary, this is beautiful," she whispered, looking at her sister who was smiling a little. For an eight year old the girl was so wonderfully thoughtful, it made her want to cry. Tears had even sprung to her eyes but she brushed them away quickly as she reached out to the younger girl, pulling her into a large hug and planting a kiss upon her cheek. "Thank you so much."

Without waiting she unfastened the clip on the necklace and fastened it again at the back of her neck, looking down and admiring the way the pendent shone upon her chest.

"Open mine now," George urged, his hand resting upon her shoulder and he smiled down warmly at her. "It's not as good, but since you're growing up I thought it'd be a nice piece of nostalgia."

Nora wasn't nearly as patient with this gift, tearing the wrapping from whatever it was inside, only stopping when something bright caught her eye, and she stared on stunned. After a moment she collected herself again, pulling the paper away more carefully now, she gasped a little, biting her lip.

"Oh, George..."

* * *

Her mother had made a cake for her, and they'd had a wonderful evening chatting and laughing as a family again, her father joking about when she was a tyke and how she'd become a lovely young woman now, all ready for finding a husband and leaving... then cracking on to George how he planned to turn her room into a study, now he finally had space. Her mother had playfully swatted his arm, laughing and telling him to hush before leaning over the chair arm and kissing him gently on the lips. Each of the children made loud noises of repulsion, laughing between themselves.

"Dad, I think you're more likely to make another 'tyke' with mum before Eleanor moves out," George laughed under his breath, but he was heard anyway and the room erupted in jeers and shouts of protest, but most of all; laughter.

George eventually had to leave, clasping his fathers' hand warmly and kissing each of the women upon the cheek before leaving on the promise that he would be back soon, and next time he'd bring Irene and the baby with him. Nora waved him down the path, thinking about the gift he'd brought her that she'd stowed away in her room ready for that evening.

Mary fell asleep on their fathers' lap, curled up to him so tightly she looked tiny compared to how she usually was, and he took her upstairs to bed, kissing Nora's mother upon the cheek as he went, his warm eyes shining as he told her he'd be going to bed too, it was late and he was up early in the morning. They went upstairs, leaving Nora with her mother, who was watching her with a hint of fondness in her eyes. The two women stared at one another, and it was like Nora was looking into a mirror at the future of herself. She was the spitting image of her mother, with maybe only the differences of time to show the difference.

Her mother was maybe a few inches taller, standing at five foot seven while Nora was about five four. Both women had the same almond shaped brown eyes, both expressing the same love, affection and youthful hope towards life. Their hair was the same chocolate colour, but Nora's fell in gentle waves down to her lower back while her mothers' was cut into a lovely bob that came to her shoulders, curling slightly and making her face look very pretty, framed just so nicely.

They had similar figures, as Nora was developing the curves that came with womanhood her mother had them; very shapely hips, long legs, thin waist and a fair sized chest. Her mother was a beautiful woman and she could only hope she grew to be the same when she was older. Her mother was watching her affectionately, before walking slowly over and pulling her into a motherly embrace, stroking her daughter's long hair.

"You're growing into such a beautiful young woman," she said softly, leaning back and placing a kiss upon the girls' head. "But to become a beautiful young woman, you need your beauty sleep. Off to bed with you."

Eleanor tisked, but smiled up at her mother and stood up on her tip toes to give her a kiss on the cheek before sweeping past and climbing the stairs to bed. She let herself into her room and shut the door behind her, sighing slightly and straightening her clothing as she did so. Her back was turned to her room, and the brunette was instead looking at the oak door. That was until she head a cough behind and and whirled around, looking into those vibrant green eyes she was so used to.

"I've been waiting, sunflower," he said, but there was a smile on his face and his whiskers twitched happily. On his lap was the gift George had given her, and he was looking at it with great interest. "This is a lovely book," he remarked quietly, flipping the pages.

It was handmade, leather, and each page inside was something Eleanor had done over the years. Pictures of the Guardians, stories about them, their backgrounds and histories and each of their own personal stories. Right now Aster was looking at the picture she'd drawn when she was about nine of the Warren. It was just a bright green scribble in her eyes, and she flushed red with embarrassment as the Guardian looked over it, but in his eyes it captured the magic perfectly. He could make out the hills, pointed out to the suddenly shy girl the tunnels she'd drawn that lead to each of the continents, the weeping trees and the egg warriors that wandered around the place. He read the description of him thoroughly, humming happily at the drawing she did when she was just an ankle-biter.

"Who put this together?" he asked quietly, sitting up properly, feet sticking off the end of the bed as he patted the spot next to him, beckoning Eleanor to sit with him. She walked to the bed and climbed onto the duvet, settling next to him and looking at the book, before she took it off him and closed it. Across the brown leather front there was a stitched sunflower, and she smiled slightly to herself. She'd only found out recently that her name 'Eleanor' meant sunflower. Of course she reckoned Aster had known from the start, specialising in all things floral and growing, and that's why he'd nicknamed her all those years ago, but for George to look into it and make something so personal for her, that was beyond sweet.

"My brother George," she finally replied. "He must have salvaged all the papers after mum threw them out... when she told me I had to grow up."

"Yeah, but there's a difference between growing up and forgetting your youth," aster muttered, his whiskers twitching in irritation. Without warning he hopped up, turned around to her and smiled widely. "Anyway sunflower! We need to get you off for your party!"

He grabbed her hand and hoisted her up, twirling her around so she was behind him and he crouched a little, and nodded for her to get on his back. She felt a little dizzy and somewhat bemused, but she did as she was told and climbed onto his back, her legs wrapping around his lithe waist as she tangled her hands into his fur.

"I suggest you hold on tight, this is gonna be a wild one."

And then there was the familiar whooshing sound in her ears, her body seemed almost lightweight as Aster bounded through his tunnels and all that Nora saw was flashes of green and pink and then the whole world around them was white, and bitterly cold. With a squeak she fell from his back, landing in soft, white, powdery snow, but it was immensely chilling, and with a shout she jumped back up.

"Crikey! It's cold!" Aster shouted, grabbing hold of Nora and heaving her back onto his back, holding her steady as best he could while it was freezing out, and he bounded as best he could through the snow. "I always overshoot that one!" he laughed, and all Nora could do was push herself flush against his back and shiver. She was cold, but what surprised her was the fact that Aster was trembling beneath her. It started to feel like walking outdoors on a Christmas morning, it felt less bitter, but she knew that wasn't good. She was literally freezing!

Within minutes they had gone through a large cave where the wind didn't bite them as much, but the cold seemed to intensify. Then there was warmth, and colour, and sound deafened her while something huge pried her from Asters back, only to pass her back but this time in the rabbit's arms.

"I've got her from here Phil, no worries mate," he said quietly, and she could feel herself shivering violently, but held flush against the Pooka's warm fur.

She could see colours pass her by, and strange noises filled the air. There were gasps and muffled cries, and something that sounded like a foghorn screeched out, only to be shushed up again.

"She's a bit frozen!" Aster suddenly called out with a trace of a laugh in his voice, "Stick her by the fire, she'll soon warm up."

She felt him drop her into a large armchair, and then the feeling started coming back to her toes and fingers as a fire roared before her, her cheeks tinted pink as the warmth spread through her, and eventually she found herself toasty enough to open her eyes properly again, and focus on where she was.

She never expected what she saw, and nearly toppled out of her seat in shock, but she felt so happy, she could have simply exploded.

Sat around were her childhood heroes, her dreams and her fantasies. Flittering above them was the Tooth Fairy, who beamed brightly then swooped upon her, pulling her into a very warm and very motherly embrace. Nora, in a state of shock and wonder, hugged her back, noticing how the feathers that covered the woman's body were soft as silk, and seemed to glow different colours. Teal, yellow and pink were most predominant, nit there were silvers, golds, reds and a whole host of colours she could have made a rainbow and more. Her wings were translucent, and looked so delicate Eleanor wondered if they would shatter if she touched them, and promised herself she wouldn't try, just to be safe. She'd seen Toothiana before, but there were new additions to the group, even if she did know of them, she'd never seen them before.

Santa Clause, for instance, had never looked as intimidating in her mind. The general image children were given was that Santa was a jolly old man with a fat belly. The Santa before her, or Nicholas St. North as Aster told her he was called, was towering above them, easily above seven feet tall, and he looked burly, well build, if not going a little podgy around his middle with what could have been age or excess cookies. His snow white hair came to his shoulders, his beard covered his chest, but his eyebrows were thick and grey which seemed to make his baby blue eyes shine out all the more bright for it. He was wearing loose clothing, a red shirt that tucked into baggy black pants, though they looked very thick and warm. He was wearing huge black leather boots and the biggest smile on his face. The thing that kept catching her eye though was perhaps the tattoos along both his forearms, one saying 'Naughty', and one saying 'Nice'. Before the large man could make a move, Eleanor felt her interest pique, and she smiled up at him before asking;

"Which am I on?" as she pointed to his arms. For a moment he looked a little stunned, but smiled warmly and tapped his left arm. Nice.

"You've always been on good list," he said warmly, clearing the distance between himself and her in two great steps before pulling her into what she thought would be a bear hug, but was actually one of the most gentle and loving embraces she'd ever had. Much more gentle than Aster, and he was a bunny rabbit. "Happy Birthday Nora, we have many gifts for you!"

She felt her face flush a little, prising his arms off her as she shook her head.

"Oh, oh no, you really shouldn't have! You've gone through all this trouble getting me here to wish me a happy birthday, you don't have to do anything else!"

"Is only nice!" North laughed, patting her on the head before turning sharply at the sound of something jingling. Nora had to stand to see what it was, and she saw a small, golden man dropping an elf, who promptly fell over.

"Sandman," she breathed, walking over to him. He came across, somehow, the wisest of them all. Perhaps it was the knowledgeable twinkle in his eye, or the fact that he seemed so calm and humble, bowing politely to her and smiling widely, but not saying a word... at all. "Sorry, we seemed to forget about you," she whispered, feeling the need to be almost as quiet as he was... it seemed infectious. But he only beamed at her, shaking his head slightly before golden sand slid in a ribbon up to his head, forming a ball there before exploding out to shape a cake with fifteen golden candles atop. It was his way of saying happy birthday to her.

"Thank you," the brunette replied, smiling back at the little man, before a hand on her arm made her turn around. It was Tooth again.

"I didn't actually wish you a happy birthday!" she cried, beaming at her and Nora felt entranced by her violet eyes. "I just can't believe you're fifteen and you're... um..."

"And I'm...?" Nora questioned, eyes narrowing.

"And you're... here." Tooth whispered, looking a little bashful. "You still see us and everything. Even Bunny didn't think you would after so long."

And then the Pooka found himself looking into those big brown eyes that turned to him, and shrunk away slightly. He'd gotten to know the girl so well since she was six, and he knew after nine years of reading those eyes and her expressions that she was shocked and upset. He knew why as well, but in his experience it was better to let her have it out with him rather than cut over her and 'assume' he knew what he'd done wrong, even if he really did know, it'd only make her blow her top.

"You... thought I'd stop believing?" she asked quietly, and at this point he glanced up at Tooth who realised she'd put her foot in Bunny's mouth and covered her face with her hands, mentally cursing herself. Even North and Sandy were looking uncomfortable.

"I... thought you would, yeah," he replied, trying to act nonchalant about it, deciding that honesty would be the best policy, but not to make it into a big deal. She didn't go mad like he thought she would, she only looked a little defeated, her head dropping slightly, but her eyes never leaving his. She was reading him too, as she could so, so well.

"Why would you lose faith in me, Aster, when I never lost faith in you?"

And that was like a kick to the teeth, but she realised how tense the room was and saw how down Aster suddenly seemed, and she crossed the room towards him and wrapped her arms around him, forgiving.

"Forget about it," she muttered, and he returned the embrace slowly, testing the waters with her, because she might still be miffed at him. "It's my birthday, I'd rather not fight."

Aster felt himself smile, and she pulled away slightly to return the smile up at him, beaming, while those almond eyes twinkled at him.

"Fair dinkum," he laughed, "let's party then."


	11. Chapter 11

Another chapter! Thank you ALL for the reviews I've recieved! They're wonderful and amazing, and unfortunately I won't be posting as frequently because I've hit a bout of writers' block. I am SO sorry, but I will try to push through and get back on track and do what I'm good at ^_^

In the meantime, check out 'Slave to Darkness' (haha, shameless plug again!) and leave me a review on that pretty please.

As always, enjoy :)

* * *

The family sat in horror around the old Marconi radio, her dad turning the knobs on the front so they got the right frequency through just in time to hear the news report again.

'_The BBC is once again reporting on the assassination of the Archduke and Duchess of Austria. The Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, nephew of the aged emperor and heir to the throne, was assassinated in the streets of Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, yesterday afternoon. His wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg, was killed by the same assassin. Some reports say the duchess was deliberately shielding her husband from the second shot when she was killed. One victim was struck in the body and the other in the face; the telegrams are contradictory about which wound the archduke suffered and which his wife._

_Two attempts were made on the archduke's life during the day. He was in Bosnia directing the manoeuvres of the Austrian Army Corps stationed in the province, and had devoted yesterday to a procession through the capital. During the morning a bomb was thrown at the imperial motor-car, but its occupants escaped unhurt. _

_In the afternoon in another part of the town a Serb student fired a revolver at the car, killing both the archduke and the Duchess._

_Bosnia and Herzegovina have been in Austrian occupation since 1878, when the Treaty of Berlin authorised the dual monarchy to hold the two provinces. In 1908 Austria, without consulting the other parties to the treaty, annexed the occupied territory. Austria-Hungary is, as a result of territorial divisions and constitutional differences, ruled partly by the Germans and partly by the Magyars. The Slavs, who are a great majority of the people, numbering 22,500,000 against 11,000,000 Germans and 9,000,000 Magyars, remain indignantly hostile to such a political system._

_Britain is awaiting more news on the matter, and we will report thusly. This is the six o'clock news from the BBC_.'

Nora sat quietly at the kitchen table, shock and horror twisting her stomach and making her feel ill. Mary, to her right was being held close by her mother, while her father paced the floor, not knowing what else to do. And for what felt like hours, they sat there, until the front door burst open and in walked George, Irene and baby Alice in arm. They looked equally as appalled and they must have rushed right over to talk about the news. But no talking happened, they merely took seats at the table and everyone mulled the event over in their minds.

Eleanor, even at fifteen, knew what this would lead to. If Austria's future King and his wife had been killed, that could only lead to a war. She wasn't sure with whom it would be at this moment in time, her head seemed too fuzzy to figure it through properly, but all arrows pointed to Serbia. It seemed only the natural way of things, especially since the two countries had been hostile for so many years.

Without a word she stood up and went to the fireplace, tossing a log on and some kindling before striking a match and lighting it, attempting to disengage herself from the main table and escape the situation. Grabbing hold of the copper kettle before it started to heat with the flames that now started rising, she went to the sink and filled it, taking it back and setting it on the hearth so it would boil. Returning to the kitchen, she pulled out four teacups and went about making tea for the adults of the house, before filling two glasses with water for herself and Mary, and silently holding her hand out for Alice's bottle to fill with milk. Nobody spoke a word, nobody moved to stop her. It was only when the kettle started to whistle, indicating that the water had boiled did her father stop her in her tracks and pull her close to his chest. She stayed there, stunned into silence as she had been since the news, and he stroked her hair out of her eyes gently. She looked up at him, her brown eyes meeting his startlingly blue ones, and she took in his appearance. He was the only one of the family was such bright eyes, as her mother, George, Mary and herself all had brown or hazel coloured ones. But whereas George and Mary inherited their mothers plain dark brown locks, she had inherited the golden-red hues her father had laced into his lighter brown hair, which shone in the daylight. She'd taken after him in all aspects of personality. He was quite an arduous man, working hard, being serious, and oft times he had a short temper because of it. He hardly indulged in fantasy, which was where they differed in opinion. But like her father she always set about the task in mind, never took no for an answer, and was quick to anger or get frustrated if things didn't go her way. But the two of them could also be such free spirits, enjoyed company, laughed a lot and as often as they could, and they were both quick to forgive. There was no point staying angry after all. Eleanor looked up at the man who raised her, whom she took after so well, and for the first time in her life she saw fright in his eyes. Saw fear and weakness, and it scared her.

"You don't have to make tea Eleanor," he said gently, his hands on her shoulders. "It's okay."

"It's okay dad," she replied, wrapping her arms around his torso and hugging him close. "It'll be okay."

And she knew that was what he really needed, just a bit of reassurance. That was what they all needed, and though it felt strange being the one to do it, she embraced this new-found responsibility in herself, vowing to keep it up as best she could. Glancing around at the frightened faces of her family, she bit her lip a little. Someone needed to be strong, and she decided she'd be the one to do that for them all. Instil hope, wonder and happiness to their lives, because she thought from this point on, the Guardians would have a lot on their plates.

* * *

It took little over a week for Germany to jump on the boat, and the reporter on the Marconi told them that they'd allied with Austria, in order to help aid them in their conflicts with Serbia. She had been right then, and she sat with her head in her arms as she realised what was going to happen. On July 28th the report went out that Austria had declared war on Serbia, then on the 1st August Germany declared war on Russia.

This irked her, knowing Nicholas was Russian, and it irked her, because from what she'd seen she knew the Russians were a hard breed of people, sturdy and frightening, but quite nice. She could have just been generalising, but she had nothing else to go on. However, she decided not long after this initial thought that nobody deserved to be caught up in a war, and she felt pity for all sides in the war. It wasn't right, and it wasn't fair.

She was sent into town by her mother the afternoon of the 1st, and there seemed to be a crowd of people gathering outside the town hall, and her curiosity got the better of her. She wandered over, looking about at the crowds of sobbing and desperate looking women, and the men looking stony faced and solemn. She realised what was going on and it froze her heart in her chest. She saw the army officials and they were signing people up, and she felt weak kneed and light headed, thoughts of George and her father flickered before her eyes, and next thing she knew the cold cobble ground was against her back, her head throbbed and there was darkness for a short while.

Upon opening her eyelids, she focused on a pair of grey eyes looking back, a mop of brown hair hanging over them in wisps, and she felt bile rising in her throat.

"Eleanor! Are you okay?" Martin asked, and she tried shoving him away but her kept hold of her, mistaking the disgusted look on her face for one of pain and confusion. He lifted her gently, held her steady in his arms and he kept her pulled flush against his chest.

"Darrell, I'll finish my sign-up later, I need to get her home," he informed the man behind them, who nodded and wandered away.

She wasn't aware of where she was going, only that she was being taken away from the public place and the worried chattering crowds by the man who had tried forcing her to do things she really didn't want to little more than three months ago. In retrospect he hadn't done much wrong besides peer pressure her into drinking wine, and she'd been the one to throw a bottle into his stomach and hurt him before pelting off. She expected the worst from him, but she couldn't let that get to her. She needed to act as natural as possible, shake off this headache that was brewing and stop leaning on him so damned much! She pushed again, and having regained some of her sense and strength she managed to pry herself away from him and shoot a glare up, which she quickly felt bad about as there was nothing but concern in his eyes and a small frown on his face.

"Are you okay Nora?" he asked, his hold on her slackening slightly, but he still supported her in case she went feint again.

"I'm fine," she muttered, trying to get out of his arms but the man wouldn't let him go. "You can let go of me now."

"Not until I get you home," he replied, and she heard the concern in his voice and felt increasingly guilty about how she'd acted with him at Easter and how she was being now. There was silence as they walked down the road, his left arm firmly around her waist and his right arm holding hers as an extra support. The closeness made her flush red and she wanted nothing more than the earth to open so she could drop down... hopefully to the Warren, but a fiery abyss would do if that was the only option. "I'm sorry about that wine thing, ya know..."

"Oh, no, I am too," she replied, cutting him off and not listening to the rest of his apology, trying to make the feeling mutual so perhaps he would be quiet. Her mind strayed to the events down at town hall and her stomach clenched again as she thought that maybe George would sign up too... then she remembered what she had heard Martin say as he left the place to bring her home, about finishing his sign up later on... "Martin, are you enlisting yourself?" she asked quietly, looking up into his grey eyes, feeling a little humbled by him. She knew he could be an arse, but she had respect for any man that went out and fought for their country.

"I am indeed," he said with a hint of a smile, but she noticed from the corner of her eye how his eyes crinkled with worry, and she felt very sorry for him. She knew he wanted to go into the army, she knew this was his chance to prove himself, but it seemed like a very scary thing to do.

"Are you scared?" she whispered, and at that he stopped, his body slumped a little, but he picked himself back up again, looking at her warmly. She read some affection in his eyes, and it made her blush red.

"A little. But it's the only thing I can do. I don't have a job, so it's a way to make a little money I guess."

"Will you be okay?" she asked, feeling increasingly concerned for the man she disliked so much. "It's a war..."

"I know what it is, Nora," he said briskly, somewhat impatiently, then his expression softened again, his voice too, and his hand reached up to her face and his thumb stroked her cheek gently, affectionately. "I know what I'm getting myself into. Have some faith in me."

And it was that small phrase that knocked the wind out of her, made her deflate and all her assumptions of him fell to pieces. He was asking so, so little of her, just that she might believe in him, in his actions. It was what she had done for others with far less proof of them, and still she was so weary of this man. The brunette felt guilt wrap around her and before she could act on anything she was being pulled through the door to her home, wrapped in her mothers' protective arms.

"Eleanor, what's happened?" she heard her mother gushing, but she couldn't take her eyes from Martin, who looked awkward in the doorway.

"She, um, passed out in the town square. So I thought it better to bring her home. She's a penny short of a pound right now."

"You'd better get to bed sweetheart," her mother said quietly, and she looked up into her mothers brown eyes, then shook her head.

"No, I'll be okay mum, I just need a glass of water."

Without another word her mother rushed into the kitchen to clean a glass and get her some water. In her absence, Martin looked at her, his eyes warm and she felt terrible. In some depths of her mind she knew he liked her. She'd known since he'd asked her to go to the woods for a picnic even though his actions hadn't been all that good. She felt terrible, because he liked her, but she felt nothing for him other than friendship. She knew she had something of a schoolgirl crush on Aster, but he was a Guardian, obliged to protect her and feel nothing more than anything paternal for her. Martin was... well, Martin. He was tall, handsome, stupid and arrogant but delightfully caring Martin. He was a cross between that awkward friend you have, and an older brother you don't get on with. She cared for him, but there was nothing there to invest in, no deeper emotional bond.

And suddenly he'd leaned in and captured her lips in one sweet, brief kiss, and then he bid his goodbyes before turning and heading out the door, leaving her stunned and her lips tingling, and with a groan she stormed up the stairs.


	12. Chapter 12

Screw it guys, I'm posting another chapter. I'm struggling through my writers block. Tackle it head on and all that!

Please review :)

Hoo-roo.

* * *

It was hard to see him leave, and Eleanor stood with her arms crossed over her chest with a large pout on her face as he boarded the train. He noticed her, and stopped saying goodbye to the others to walk over to her slowly and pull her into a large hug. His arms wrapped around her shoulders and he placed a gentle kiss on her head, sighing slightly as he did so.

"You be careful, okay Nora?" George told her quietly, and she nodded, still standing there looking stubborn as hell but refusing to let this get the better of her. Refusing to cry.

"Of course I'll be okay, it's you I'm worried about!" she seethed, angry that he'd signed up in the first place, angry that he was leaving and going God only knew where. It was November, and it broke her heart that she'd now have to spend Christmas without him. After Germany invaded Belgium in August, Britain joined the war, and after Germany invaded France later on the same month, George decided to sign up. She'd screamed at him for doing so, cried and hit him and kicked out and collapsed in a heap on the kitchen floor, sobbing and screaming that she hated him while her mother watched on with teary eyes and Mary clutched the table for support, in a state of shock all her own. The nine year old was being forced to grow up too fast, it wasn't fair on her. Now she had to see her brother go off to fight a battle that wasn't his, not knowing if he'd come back or not.

"I'll be okay. Keep Mary safe, and mum too. You're the strong one, keep them hopeful, okay?"

"I'll do my best," she whispered, tears finally pricking the corners of her eyes and she tried looking away but George knew when she was hiding things and he pulled her face back to his, being ever so gentle with her, but firm and brotherly too.

"You'll do brilliantly. I need to go now though, I love you Eleanor."

In a swift motion she had flung her arms around him before he could even move away, pulling him close and sobbing suddenly into his shoulder. He held her close again, and she heard his breath shudder and knew he was trying to be strong for her, but the fact he was upset about his departure both touched and terrified her. It took only a few seconds, but it expressed the emotion between the two siblings, and when she let George go there was a look of love on his face that only siblings could convey, and the look in his eyes – the sheer determination mingled with outright fear and unconditional love for her and their family, the reason he was doing this – told her that no matter what she thought, no matter what happened, he'd always be her big brother, and that was that.

He turned away then, walking to the train with Mary in tow who was chattering on and pressing a letter she had written for him in his hand, which he deftly tucked into his pocket while his commander wasn't looking. It was while she was watching George go with tears in her eyes that she felt a small tap on her shoulder and turned to see Martin, looking as handsome as ever in his uniform, but that was all she saw. After he kissed her in July, she'd spent many a month thinking about it, mulling it over in her mind, and she came to the conclusion that she didn't like him romantically... however he had been so convinced that the kiss meant something he'd told his friends he was courting her, and she didn't have the heart to break his. She couldn't have him going to war feeling miserable... and she was so sure that he'd find a lovely girl on the road to copulate with and he'd forget all about her.

"I just wanted to say goodbye," he said very quietly, pack slung over his shoulder and shy smile in place.

"Oh... okay," she replied weakly, watching how his eyes tracked the tear stains on her face and she stayed still as he slowly reached out and brushed her cheek with his thumb. "Promise me you'll take care," she added, thinking just 'okay' seemed a bit stupid.

"I will, don't you worry about me," he smiled broadly. "You stay safe too, yeah?"

"Yeah, George already told me that," she scoffed slightly, rolling her eyes and dropping her arms. "I'm not going to go looking for Germans, don't you worry."

Martin just laughed at her, before pulling her slowly into a hug and kissing her forehead.

"I'm glad to hear that. I'll be back when this is over, okay? Don't go anywhere."

"I'm not standing here forever," she muttered, but smiled slightly at how kind he was being to her, despite how awkward she felt. "I'll see you soon though."

"Soon," he echoed, his hand brushing hers for a last time before he turned and jogged to the train, jumping aboard and giving her one final look before he disappeared into the masses.

* * *

"Aster!" she screamed, looking about the wood with tears in her eyes. Her dress was torn and ragged, her legs cut from thorns and twigs that had snagged her and her shirt dirtied. Her coat was undone and she was shivering, but she needed to find him.

"Please Aster," she moaned, leaning her back against a tree and sliding down it so she ended up sat down, her knees tucked up to her chest in a feeble attempt to make herself smaller so the wind would stop nipping at her. The frost had set in again in the upcoming weeks to Christmas, and it had only really hit home that her brother was gone. She felt the tears pouring down her face and she lifted her head up to look at the sky. It was mostly clouded, but the moon shone through, full and bright and looking down right at her.

"Where is he?" she asked, her voice a choked whisper as she closed her eyes and basked in the cold white glow the moon cast down on her and the rest of the world. "I need him... where is he?"

Something in her heart told her Aster was busy with something else. There was a lot going on in the world now, a lot of terrible things and it broke her heart to admit it, but she knew she couldn't have all of the Guardians' attention. She just couldn't, it wouldn't be fair on the children in Europe that were suffering now if they weren't given a little hope to cling to, a little happiness to brighten their day.

Instead, she felt a cold surround her, something deep and dense, and she felt it in the most peculiar of ways. It was like ice had wrapped arms about her, and though she shivered and longed to break away from whatever it was, something told her to stay put, embrace it. The wind whipped past her, and she heard a name on the breeze.

"_Jack_..."

So it was Jack Frost again. The individual that had led her to Aster in the first place as a child, led her to safety when she'd been so terrified of Martin, kept her safe in his own way.

"Why aren't you a Guardian?" she whispered. "You've kept me safe... I believe in you. I can't see you though, yet I know you're here." Looking up at the moon again, she felt her heart clutch with a thousand unasked questions, but the wind was waiting on baited breath, and she knew there would be no answers tonight. Standing slowly she looked about the strange past of the wood she'd wandered into, and sighed. Brushing dirt from her clothes, though it made little difference to the eye, she turned around and looked where a little flurry of snow had started blowing through the trees. "Take me home Jack, please."

And with that she was walking slowly through the woods, along unfamiliar paths and through strange places she'd never seen, or had no recollection of seeing in her life. Old mine shafts and blocked up, half demolished chimneys. There had once been a mine here, but after an explosion some years ago which killed a great deal of men, the place had been shut and the forest had been planted. One tree in remembrance of a man that had died down there. Looking about at the dense wood, she frowned. A lot of men had been killed.

The wind seemed to keep her company home, and with each step she took she realised she was walking on freshly frosted and iced leaves. Looking on ahead she saw the frost spreading slowly, and she smiled as she realised this must be Jack and his handiwork. He was leading her home in his own subtle way, and the smiled gracefully in that direction the frost was spreading in.

As Nora reached the outer ring of the wood she realised where she was and followed a path familiar to her, walking down over the hill and looking down at her home where the kitchen light was on, left for her so she could see what she was doing when she got in. She also reckoned her parents would be waiting in there for her, ready to scald her. It wasn't safe out nowadays, especially in the dark. She was mildly shocked that they hadn't pulled the blackout curtains over, something everyone was advised to do to make them less of a target for bombers that were rumoured to come any time soon. At least a decoded message from Germany said so.

She strode in through the back gate and up past the newly constructed bomb shelter and the vegetable patch to the back door. Her hand rested on the handle but before she opened it, her body froze and she looked behind her, where the cold seemed to centre. She wished she could see him, this Jack Frost, the keeper of Winter that Aster had told her so much about in one of his many rants and raves. She felt a little sad, but smiled nonetheless and spoke gently;

"I'll see you one day, Jack. Thanks for bringing me home."

There was no reply, no gust of wind or frosty nip at her nose, and she opened the door quietly and let herself into the house, looking to her left through the open kitchen door and seeing both her parents sat up at the table, glaring icily at her.

"Where have you been?" her father asked, and she noticed his eyes were fixed on her and angry.

"In the woods," Eleanor replied, simply but honestly. That didn't seem to help matters, and her mother stood up in a sudden rush and slammed her hand down on the tabletop.

"Do you really think it's a good time to be playing in the woods Eleanor?!" she cried, her brow wrinkled. "Britain is at war, there are threats of bombings... do you really think we want you to be out wandering when bombs start dropping on us?"

Her mouth seemed to control itself from that point onwards, and Eleanor felt her mind go blank and her eyes narrow.

"If you don't want to be blown up, I suggest you close the curtains. Otherwise you're doing a splendid job of making us an easy target."

And with that the teen ducked away as her mother shouted for her to come back this instant, her father coming to the bottom of the stairs to glare up at her as she turned at the top and shot a filthy look down at him. There seemed to be a lot of anger there, previously concealed, but somehow the war had brought it out. Being thrown into such hard times was testing their strength, and it was tearing them apart.

"I'm going to bed," Eleanor snapped, turning her back on her father who was seething quietly, and slamming her door shut. She pulled the curtains closed in anger, stripped off and stood there for a moment in cotton panties and a bra, looking at the floor. She felt so vulnerable, and not just because of her semi-naked state, but because of how raw her heart felt, how it seemed as if everything was going to come crashing down any moment, which it could. There could be an air strike tonight, and she might never wake up. The thought plagued her every waking moment and haunted her dreams, making her turn it over and over in her mind to come to the only conclusion that she wouldn't be able to say goodbye. Not to her parents, not to her siblings or her young niece or Aster... or any of the Guardians for that matter. She wondered how they felt, when she heard of the death tolls rising in foreign countries, knowing many were children and many were unprotected, dying without hope, love or any form of magic or happiness in their lives. She wondered if they thought they'd failed, when in all honesty there was nothing they could have done or could do now to have stopped or stop the tragedies that occurred everyday now.

She slipped a nightgown on and yawned, climbing in bed and resting her head against her soft pillows. Sending a small prayer of love out to her magical friends, she fell into a deep slumber... only for the nightmares to plague her again, not the sweet dreams she'd had for so, so long.


	13. Chapter 13

I'm persisting again, I'm pushing through the writers block :) I'm loving it too.

Check out my other RotG fic, 'Slave to Darkness', it's about Pitch (ooooobviously)

As usual, enjoy, please review :)

* * *

The sirens rang out all across London, loud and long and whining, and for a second every individual froze in what they were doing. Eyes met across the dinner table, fear clutched at every heart, and then it was time to move. Eleanor didn't think before she jumped up, grabbed Mary's hand and pulled her off her chair at the table, out of the house and across the garden. Not a care was given that both girls were barefooted or mud was splashing up their legs and the cold was biting into them and both girls dived through the door into the bomb shelter constructed at the bottom of the garden. There were two small bunks in side of the shelter, a small cupboard with a stock of food and a set of gas masks for each of the family members. Roger ran in after the girls, yelping with his tail between his legs. The poor dog was getting old, and loud sounds made him upset easily. He was about ten now, no longer the puppy Nora remembered chasing Aster in the woods those years ago, and the greyhound had even gotten used to the Guardian visiting, watching as the overgrown rabbit tried to tiptoe upstairs quietly, always weary that the dog would snap and chase him. The old boy managed to squeeze himself under the bottom bunk, and all the girls could hear was his whimpers and whines.

She pushed Mary down onto the bottom bunk and went back to the door to watch as her mother and father came down after shutting off all the lights and drawing the curtains quickly. When everyone was in, the door was shut and the family huddled up in a corner, hugging one another for safety and comfort.

The sounds of explosions could be heard all around London, but not too loudly where they were. The humming of aeroplanes was overhead, and Eleanor felt herself shudder and Mary curled up tighter in her arms, trembling. The child always did tremble, and it made her sad to look down at the tear stained face of her baby sister and know she couldn't do anything about it. Her heart broke a little each time one of these raids went on, which from March had been almost every night. She wondered how Aster would plan his Easter hunt this year if parents were so scared of letting their children out of their sights. Then again, perhaps a little joy was what was needed, and she should suggest this around the neighbourhood. Mary was still trembling in her arms, and she stroked the child's brown hair back gently, putting on a small smile.

"Nearly Easter," she muttered quietly, smirking when she girl looking up at her with shock and disbelief in her eyes, as if wondering why she was on about something so trivial at a time like this. "Think you're going to find many eggs this year?"

"Maybe," Mary replied, and Eleanor was glad to know the girl still believed, still had a little hope in her to see forward to the holiday.

"Bet I'll find more than you again," Eleanor grinned, before looking to her father. "What do you think dad, reckon I'll win again?" Her father shared the same disbelieving expression as Mary had, but he nodded anyway, going along with it.

"You always do... it's as if you have an insider helping you, eh Nora?" he smiled slightly, reaching out and stroking her hair a little.

"Oh, you'd all be surprised if you knew who I know. I have friends in high places."

"I'm sure you do sweetheart," her father chuckled.

There was silence again, but knowing the pattern the attacks had been coming in, it wouldn't be long until another came past. They might as well hunker down for the night and get some sleep. Their parents took the bottom bunk, while Eleanor and Mary top and tailed the top bunk. There was a scuffle over the blanket, but being kind for once, Nora let her sister have it. Instead she clutched the necklace she received from her birthday, the sun reminding her of happier times, while the idea of Spring and Easter gave her hope for happier times to come, as far off as they may have seemed. Her father pulled the chain which turned off the small light bulb in the shelter, plunging them into darkness as the whole of London was plagued with the sounds of terror, emergency services scrambling to assist those in need, while more bombs whistled down to the city and exploded with such ferocity as it shook the ground.

And before she closed her eyes, resisting no more to those terrible thoughts and feelings of fear, she swore she saw the faintest flicker of gold, and heard a deep, chilling, but oddly lulling laugh.

* * *

"There aren't any eggs, Nora," Mary sighed, dropping the wicker basket at her feet before reaching up and stretching, while Nora held onto little Alice who was seemingly determined to kick and fight to get down and play in the snow.

"It's been snowing, they're probably buried," Eleanor tried to reason, biting her lip and looking about her at the white sheet on the ground. It was, in fact, still snowing, but the canopy of the trees provided a little shelter. She managed to convince other parents to let her take the children out on the annual egg hunt, but they'd come up short. Roger padded along at the side of them, yawning and looking up at her with some annoyance on his long, thin face.

"Don't look at me like that Roger," Eleanor huffed, turning and dropping Alice gently into a snow bank before putting her hands on her hips. "Come on, you know what Aster smells like, sniff us out some eggs!"

Mary looked up at Nora with a sparkle of curiosity in her eyes, and the older brunette realised her faire une gaffe as her younger sibling looked up at her with piqued curiosity. She'd never before mentioned Aster in conversation, at least not by name. Calling him E. Aster Bunnymund might have raised suspicion with her siblings and concern with her parents. So for that reason she'd only ever referenced the Easter Bunny, but as Roger had been around often enough when Aster had, the dog had become accustomed to her using the Guardian's name.

"Aster?" she asked, and Nora couldn't think of an excuse, so she turned away and scooped the now snow covered toddler up from the ground and looked around as Roger started barking excitedly. He was digging, and the nearby children all rushed to him to see what he had found. She smiled as she watched them, looking around and making no more children had gone wandering since she was solely responsible for them all. And then she saw a hand go up, and one of the boys from down the street was holding up an exquisitely painted egg.

"Remember to share!" she called, and though she knew the children were all in competition with one another, recent events had heightened their sense of acknowledgement for one another, and as more eggs were turfed up, they were handed around to any child who did not yet have any. Laughter filled the woods, and she smiled as she watched them all, holding Alice's hands and helping her walk slowly through the snow. The kid could only take a few small steps, but she loved the chance to try. They were all crowded in a hallow, and a lot of the kids had taken to digging up snow around all the big trees, helping each other get a leg up to reach up into the branches to look in abandoned Robin nests, and Eleanor smiled, her heart filling with gladness as they all enjoyed themselves. It was then she heard a cough from behind her, and she turned to look at what should have just been a plain bush, but a bright pair of evergreen eyes blinked out at her. Picking Alice up, she shushed her from screaming in protest, and for once the child seemed to understand, and she did. Eleanor stepped around the bush and came face to face with a very tired looking Aster, but he smiled warmly at her like old friends should.

"Thank you for bringing them out," he said quietly, trudging forward a little and resting his large head on her free shoulder, ignoring the shocked yet delighted look Alice was giving him as she reached out and tugged on his ears. "I'm bushed," he added, his ears twitching back and forth as the toddler petted them clumsily.

"You look it," Eleanor whispered gently, her arm reaching up and wrapping around his neck, stroking the soft fur there. "How bad is it abroad?"

"Bad," he shot, his eyes narrowing, but he relaxed again after a moment and sighed. "It's going to get worse here too Nora, you promise me you'll stay safe..."

"Everyone's telling me that," she snapped, but he only gave her a reproachful look, and she gave in. "I'll try to stay safe, but there's only so much I can do."

And then the screeching came, the whine of the sirens starting from afar and then growing louder. Nora felt her chest compress, her heart skip a beat and in that second she was back around the bush, shouting the panicked children into order and shutting them up.

"Right! Everyone stand still for a moment, I need to do a head-count."

Everyone was there, bar one child... where was Mary?

"Mary..." she whispered, and panic then clutched her. She didn't have a moment to think though before Aster had bound out from behind the bush, his need to help kicking in and all the children gaped at him, Roger growling slightly.

"Give me Alice, I'll get these home, you find Mary and run home, okay sunflower?"

She didn't need to be told twice, and she shouted instructions for all the children to grab their baskets and follow the Easter Bunny out of the woods and get home as quickly as they could. They all did as they were told, staying unnaturally calm in the situation while her mind raced. As soon as they were all out of earshot, she turned to the dense wood and screamed out for her sister, pelting into the thicket, the last place she saw the child wandering.

"Mary!" she cried, looking about with wild abandon. The sirens grew louder, and she screamed the name louder, hoping for some response. "Mary!"

She rounded a corner, and saw the girl half way up an oak tree, her back flat against the trunk, clutching a small purple egg close to her chest, looking terrified. She wasn't blinking, wasn't moving, and tears were streaming down her face. Without thinking she ran to the tree, get her foot up and hoisted herself up a branch, holding on and reaching out for the next. She slipped a little on the icy bark, falling slightly, but something caught her, held her, and lifted her again.

"She's scared, you know," a smooth voice whispered to her, and she recognised the voice. Turning sharply she saw a man with grey skin, hair black as night, clothing draped around him in the same dark colour, as if he was shrouded in shadows. His hands were on her waist, holding her steady, and as she looking into his face... he had the most magnificent golden eyes.

"I'm scared too," she whispered quietly, the sound of the sirens drowning out somehow the more she looked at this man, this... this being. "But I need to get her home."

"You see us, don't you?" he asked, his mouth curved downwards in a thoughtful frown.

"I do, sir. But I really have to get my sister home," she repeated, and she broke eye contact with him, the sound around her suddenly flooding back, her sister was screaming at the man behind her, sobbing about him being there, screaming that he was her nightmare. Then all of a sudden there was a shout and a boomerang flew past her, whipping back over her shoulder and striking the man in the chest. Nora's head flew around, hair flying out in ribbons as she watched the man disappear into the shadows, and Aster was stood there, chest heaving, boomerang in hand. He looked furious.

"Don't ever talk to him Eleanor!" he shouted, eyes aflame with anger and frustration. "Never talk to him!"

She didn't have time to ask why, and he pulled her down from the tree, dropped her unceremoniously on the ground, and reached up for Mary, who was staring in shock again, but she seemed less terrified, more at ease. He hopped down from the branch again, landing beside Nora and pulling her on his back behind Mary.

"Can you carry us both?" she cried, her hands twisting into his fur.

"Course I can, now come on!" he cried, and she heard the panic in his voice as he started pelting through the woods, the wind whipping past them as they went, and soon they were at the back gate, and the girls saw for the first time in broad daylight the German bomber planes, and the shells dropping from them into the city. "Get inside!" Aster told them, and shoved them forcefully through the gate and into the arms of their father, who it seemed had managed to break free of his wife's grasp and pull on a jacket to find his girls. There were no words to be spoken, no angry looks or actions, instead he pulled them both into the shelter, where Alice was being cradled in Irene's arms, and their mother was looking about in fright until she saw her family entering. There was nothing but relief and hugs and tears of joy that they were safe. And Eleanor sat there, her head nestled in her mothers' chest, feeling ill... because she had seen the man that had plagued her dreams and filled her heart with fear these past few months, the man who had been testing her hope and trying her happiness, and she hadn't been afraid of him. She realised now there was a lot more to Aster, North, Tooth and Sandy, and that they were there to protect them not only from the obvious terrors of the world, but those hidden in the shadows, and the dark recesses of their minds. She didn't know his name, or why he was there in the woods... perhaps he'd sensed their fear and come to investigate, but he was there. Both she and Mary saw him, and with a brief glance she saw Mary was watching her carefully, and she bit her lip. There was something important she needed to ask Mary, but it could only be done in private. She needed to know who the man with golden eyes was, what he did to make Mary so afraid of him... and she needed Aster to come back to. She needed to find out every little detail she could.

A war was scary enough. The last thing they needed was something playing mind games on them.


	14. Chapter 14

Not really much to say this time, cept review please :) love you guys x

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"He's given me nightmares for months," Mary said quietly, sat cross legged on her bed while Eleanor sat at the end, mirroring her sister. "Ever since the war started. I'd have bad dreams that... that you would all die. And he'd be stood there laughing at me while I cried. I thought yesterday was a bad dream too, because the sirens were going and he was there, and then when you ran up I thought you were going to die like in my other dreams. But you saw him, and you never see him in the others, so I knew it was real life, and not just in my head..."

"Honey, we're not going to die," Eleanor said softly, reaching over to her sister and taking her hand.

"I know that, and I know it's just a bad dream, but yesterday was the worst when you saw him too. It means he's really real, doesn't it? It means he's not just in my head."

"No, he's real... but you need to concentrate on good things. The Sandman will bring you good dreams soon, don't you worry about it."

"You think so?" Mary asked, looking up with a slight glint of hope in her eye.

"I know so, just ask him nicely," Eleanor replied with a grin, stroking her sisters hair back and winking. But the smile melted from her face after a moment and she opened her mouth to ask the one question that was niggling in the back of her mind. "Mary, what is his name?"

She's wondered what he was called, the man with golden eyes that seemed so inquisitive, so careful around her, but in his own way so sinister. Aster had looked furious at him being there, probably because it was more than the Guardian could handle, as bombs were dropping too, but he had attacked the other man, and that was something she'd never seen him do. He had a short temper, sure, but he was never openly hostile.

"He's called Pitch... I think. I don't know, but he's definitely more than just the boogeyman mum told us about."

"Definitely," Eleanor repeated grimly.

It was night time, and she looked out of the window to see stars shining on above them, the moon full and bright. There was no sign of bombers silhouetted against the moon, nor had the sirens rung out into the night as they so often did nowadays. It was terrifying, but she knew not to be scared. She was stronger than letting this Pitch character get to her.

"It's bed time now, Mary. Sleep tight."

She bent over and kissed her sister atop her head before tucking the duvet around her and smoothing it out, making sure the girl closed her eyes with a smile on her face before she left the room. But as she reached the door and went to flick off the light, a small voice stopped her, and she looked back.

"What if he comes back for me?" the child whispered. "What if he makes it dark?"

There was a silence pass between them both, and Eleanor held her finger up to the younger girl to indicate she'd only be a moment before turning and rushing into her room, grabbing a candle holder and a long thin candle she stowed under her bed so she could read at night without her parents knowing, and if they happened to open her door it would be easy enough to blow out. Going back into Mary's room she set it up on her bedside table, lighting it quickly and making sure it was safe.

"You can use this as a night light Mary, and it should work against Pitch too," she said gently, smiling at her sister while the small flame cast a warm orange glow over the younger child's face. "But if by chance it doesn't, and there's no good dreams to guide you back from nightmares... I'll follow you into the dark. I'll protect you."

The small look of thanks upon her sisters' face was enough to warm her heart, and she left the room then confident that something would work. For now though, she wanted to see Bunnymund, and the only way she could think of doing that was by finding her fifteenth birthday present from him, something she'd never had to use before.

Entering her room again she knelt down on the floor beside her bed and reached under for a small but beautiful wooden box. The gift Aster had given her was a small wooden whistle, and she could blow it any time she really needed it, as from what he'd been told by a certain winter spirit she went running about the woods in a state more times than he'd like to think about. The item was long and thin, looking like a thick twig to the untrained eye, but Aster had sat down with her and explained exactly where she was to place her fingers for it to make the right sound, and where to place her lips to blow. She didn't know if he would be able to get into the house, so she crept down the stairs, glad her parents were in the living room for a change rather than the kitchen, and she snook out into the garden remembering to shut the door behind her quietly.

She lifted the small whistle to her lips, and blew one short puff of air into it. She heard nothing, but in moments the earth before her opened up and Aster came climbing out of it, looking tired but happy to see her.

"I thought you were never going to use that, sunflower," he said, sitting beside her and rubbing his head and ears with his hand, looking very stressed out.

"You should calm down a little, Aster, you'll go grey," she joked, and he rolled his eyes before grinning at her.

"Oh, ha-ha, make fun of the colour of my fur then, ya blobhead," he scoffed, but she heard the tender note in his voice and she knew he was only joking. "So what's up?" he asked, sitting beside her on the steps and stretching his long legs out.

"I want to know who Pitch is," she said quietly, deciding to get right to the point. Aster didn't move, didn't make a sound, and Eleanor added, "the man from the woods..."

"Yeah, I know he was the man in the woods, I saw him too..." Aster said quietly. His brow was furrowed and he looked troubled, so she knew this Pitch couldn't be anything good, even if he hadn't done anything malicious to her yesterday. In fact, he'd stopped her falling from a tree and hurting herself, that seemed like more helpful behaviour than nasty. "Pitch... Pitch Black... he's the Nightmare King. He takes peoples fears and twists them, makes them scared of everything, makes them jump at little movements and makes them afraid of shadows in the night. He's nothing more than a flea-bitten coward that hides in corners and scares little children-"

"Like Mary..." Eleanor said quietly, and Aster nodded his agreement.

"Like Mary. I don't know what it is about you two, you and your sister, but you seem to be the only two that can see us... well, us Guardians and the other spirits."

"I can't see Jack Frost," Nora corrected him, and he looked fairly shocked. "I can't hear him either... sometimes I think he whispers things to me, and the wind brings it, but I can't see or hear him directly."

"You can't?" the rabbit asked, looking mildly surprised, "but I thought you could... he led you to me that first time, you and your dog, and he was leading you away from that Dingle kid last year..."

"Yes, but it was... it was more like I could feel him. He's very cold you know," she smiled at him, and he nodded knowingly.

"He's a pain in my rear though," Aster muttered, and she nodded, smiling. She knew he didn't like Jack, even if she did have a fondness for the ice he spread and the joy she felt at the snow. What pleased her though, that she never told Aster, was that Spring was turning into summer. Though there was snow on the ground she could see the trees budding with flowers, fighting the cold. She knew that eventually the snow would melt and the flowers would burst through, but then the cool climate would change to a hot one, and she could spend hours running through the forest in the summer heat, with the sun on her back and her sister chasing her. She would age another year and would grow more. She'd grow the flowers her name took after, look up at them when they reached up taller than her, and she would be happy that she had the chance relax some, enjoy the warmth, kick back, have fun, do all the things you were meant to. As much as she loved Spring, it had nothing on her warmer months.

"Promise me one thing, sunflower," Aster said slowly, his voice husky.

"Sure, anything," she replied, pulling herself from her fantasies and looking at him.

"Promise me you'll stay away from Pitch... keep that whistle on you. You see or hear him, call for me. Doesn't matter when, just do it."

There was a silence, and he looked up from the ground and his green eyes met her brown ones. She saw how focused he was, how serious he was behind those shining orbs and she knew to take him seriously, and she nodded her consent.

"Okay, I promise."

He smiled at her, and pulled her into a one armed hug, and she nuzzled into his fur. She hadn't realised how cold it really was, and how exposed she always seemed to leave herself to these weather conditions. She embraced him back, stealing his warmth and closing her eyes for just a moment, allowing herself to enjoy a moment of peace in the madness. Aster seemed to be in the same state of mind, resting his head atop hers gently and sighing slightly. It wasn't a tired one, though, it seemed more one of contentment. After a good few minutes, he shifted, untangled himself from her arms and stood up looking rather miserable.

"I need to go now," he said gently, and she nodded at him, her eyes fixed on his. She couldn't help but see how sad he was, how tired he looked compared to his normally raring-to-go self. She wanted so much to reach out and hug him again, try to cheer him up, but he had to go, and she didn't want to keep him from important duties.

She watched as he tapped the ground with his foot, and then magically it opened up into a tunnel. He cast her one last half smile, then jumped down, and she took that as her cue to go inside.


	15. Chapter 15

Alrighty, another chapter for you all :)

Enjoy

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From Easter night onwards Eleanor became fiercely protective of her younger sister, to such an extent as it shocked her parents, but she managed to justify it by explaining about trying to find her in the woods at the start of that bomb raid, and she had no intention of letting that happen again. She also became more protective and motherly over little Alice when she was around, to Irene's delight because frankly the poor girl was worn out and could do with the break Eleanor's attentions gave her. She was able to sit down a few hours with a nice brew and just chatter away to Nora's mother while she watched the little girl, who giggled and screamed loudly as she ran rampant through the house.

At every air raid Eleanor was the first to grab Mary, and if Alice was there too then the babe would be in her arms before anyone could blink. She was quick as a whip and didn't want anything to harm the two girls or scare them, because she'd be damned if Pitch Black got to them. Aster had been and told her he was growing more powerful because of all the fear within Europe, and to those that recognised him for the being he was, he became visible. But his power wasn't that strong yet, and if the war ended soon enough then they would be able to force him back into the dark corner from whence he came. However as the year progressed there wasn't so much as a peep from the Nightmare King, and come Christmas of 1915 she was comfortable enough to let her sister out of her eyesight without knowing properly where she was. After all the girl was ten now, and she herself was much younger than that when she was running about on her own, exploring and making up dreams and adventures of her own.

Sixteen now, Eleanor began noticing how she was becoming a young woman. She had reached a height of five foot six, her hair was waist length and often tied in the most intricate fishtail plait, the reds golds and browns weaving together beautifully and shining in the sun Summer gave, blazing high in the sky. Her waist was slim, while her hips and bust filled out enough to give her a beautiful hourglass figure. Her face was heart shaped, her chin jutting out proudly while her lips were full and always smiling, her nose streamline, and her eyes the same almond shape with the usual bright warm brown iris'. Her legs were long, her fingers thin and delicate, and she received a lot of attention from the opposite gender.

Many boys around the factory she'd managed to get a job at flirted with her, asked her to court, but she refused them all. It had somehow become thought that she and Martin were in a relationship and though this was not at all true she didn't want to flirt back and give the wrong impression of herself while he was away fighting for their country. He wrote her often too, telling her about the advances he had been on, the times he'd been on the front line, and then the last letter she received was not in his hand, and made her heart stop.

Reading through, one line jumped out at her, and she read it over and over again before screaming for her mother. In the older woman rushed, and looked at Eleanor with a mild panic on her face as Eleanor held the letter out with a shaking hand. She took it hesitantly and read through it, her hand clapping over her mouth as she read the same words. Well... not so much words as abbreviations.

WIA.

Wounded In Action.

This could be anything, he could have a bullet lodged in his skull, leaving him comatose, or he could have just got a bit of shrapnel stuck in his leg which would need some tending to, but he may not be able to continue fighting.

"I'm so sorry sweetie," her mother started, reaching out for her, but Eleanor sat still, unmoving and unemotional. After the initial shock of the news her mind had calmed, and she realised that though she felt a little torn up about it, and very sorry for the man, she didn't feel like she'd lost anything, didn't feel any emotional attachment.

"Don't be mum," she said quietly, looking up at the woman. "I don't know why everyone thinks we're courting but we're not, I don't know why I got this news..."

Her mother didn't say a lot on that matter, nor did she even mention Martin again at dinner that night as everyone listened to Marconi tell them about the fatalities and numbers of injured soldiers from all races since the start of the war. It was only one week later that she walked in looking a little stiff and went straight to Eleanor, bending beside her and whispering into her ear;

"He's coming home... he lost a leg in a shell attack."

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He wasn't the same man who'd gone. She could see as much.

His hair wasn't neatly combed as usual, but instead hung limp and greasy about his face and in desperate need of a trim. His eyes had lost that sparkle they always had, and now looked dead and terrified, his face paler and sallow, his whole body sagging in his wheelchair... only every now and then he'd startle and twist where he was sat, looking about with wild eyes at something only he could hear.

"Martin," she whispered, reaching out slowly and brushing her fingers against his hand, he twitched slightly, but he didn't flinch away from her like he had with the doctors and even his own parents. "Are you okay?"

He looked at her blankly, as if trying to remember who she was, then all of a sudden his face broke into a smile and he looked something like his old self again, a flicker of light in his eyes, and he was holding her hand tightly, as if scared to let her go.

"Eleanor? Is that really you?" he asked, his voice deeper, quaking.

"Yes, it's me," she said with a small smile, her hand clasping his and she stroked her thumb over the back of his hand. "Are you okay?" she repeated, not certain he'd heard her first time round.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine!" he cried, grinning at her. "But look at you! Who knew how much you'd change in a year. You were a girl when I left, I come back and you're a woman."

She blushed at that, part of her was thrilled he remembered her, but then this seemed too close, too intimate for comfort. She was alone in a room with him now, there wasn't much he could do with only one leg, but it was the emotional attachment he had for her that made her gut wrench.

"I've grown up a little," she agreed, pulling her hand from his grasp and brushing a strand of her long hair from her face, blinking at him as he watched her every move like she was the most beautiful thing on the planet. "And you... gosh Martin, you look so different..."

At this his face dropped again, a sinister expression took the place of that happy smile and for a second she thought she'd broken him, panic rising in her, but he spoke, and her worries were shushed into silence.

"It was horrible out there... They made it out to be glamorous, girls dancing around you at bars you passed down the road, laughing with friends. But really it's just death and murder and blood on your hands you'll never wash off... you know something about the Germans? They're just like us."

She looked at him, startled, but he continued, his voice rising in tone with each word he spoke, his eyes bugging angrily. He looked like a man possessed, but there was nothing she could do but sit there and watch.

"They were just like us! Just lads barely of age and we were all shooting at one another because some fat bastard told us to! The God-damned powers that be decided we go marching in, and I saw some of my best friends in there killed! And I swore I'd get the German rats that did it, but then I saw it for what it really was. I saw me killing their lads and them killing ours, I saw all those dead eyes staring at us, knowing I'd never be able to bring 'em back but beggin' me to! We were all just the same!"

He was shouting now, and tears were pouring from his face, and without thinking Nora was before him, her arms around his neck while he sobbed out his grief into her shoulder, holding onto her tightly, painfully, as if scared she'd become one of those with dead eyes if he let go. It was breaking her heart to see him broken like this, the boy she'd grown up with and despised so much... but she wouldn't have wished this on her worst enemy. He was sobbing, whimpering, but he calmed himself, leaving his head on her shoulder, he whispered to her into her ear.

"I got my leg blown off by a shell, I watched a dozen other lads killed by it. It should'a been me too Nora... me and those lads, we were all supposed to be the same."


	16. Chapter 16

Another chapter for you wonderful people. Just an update, I nearly ripped my right ear off earlier trying to sort out my stupid cartilage piercing. And I love my ears ebcause they're a little pointed and I always thought they looked a bit elf-y (obviously I'm smarter than Norths' yob though xD )

As always, enjoy and please leave a review, and check out a fic by my mini friend **HerHiddenSecret**, it's called **'Never Alone**' and though she's just getting started I really like it :)

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In her opinion 1916 started the worst. News came that her brother George and the rest of his platoon had been captured by the enemy... they heard nothing after that, no update, nothing. Irene was left with the prospect of being a widow and little Alice fatherless, while they were all left thinking they might have to bury their eldest child, only son, and the most amazing big brother a couple of girls could ask for. They were strung along by the army who gave them as much information as they could about the situation, but there wasn't much...

In this time she spent many hours holed away in the Warren, escaping there and settling down to sleep in grassy fields, toes dipped in ponds, peace in her mind and hope in her heart. Aster was doing his absolute best to find out anything about this as he could, often going behind German lines and running around the dugouts to try and sniff out hide or hair of George, but he always came up short. He couldn't have apologised more, and he held her close to him while she cried into him, her nose blocked from all the upset and her face tear stained and blotchy. It was one thing being upset in front of such an old friend, but she complained it was another thing entirely to look like a monster you'd find under your bed.

"You don't look anything like Pitch," Aster snorted, trying to cheer her up. And in all honestly it did earn him a playful slap and a few well chosen swear words directed his way (something her parents would kill her for if they knew she did... but she'd learnt them from Aster, as the Australian had a bit of a short temper and a foul mouth), but she still looked sullen and miserable, and there didn't seem to be anything he could do about it. He hugged the sixteen year old close to him, nuzzling her hair and trying to get her to perk up. She stretched out, yawning lazily and rolling over away from him, only to prop herself up on her elbows and give him a long look.

"We've been friends for ten years," she noted, and he nodded. Looking back, it was a remarkable friendship. She'd never stopped believing in him, never lost her faith in the Guardians, and she had been the only human he'd even encountered like that. One with so much trust to give that she'd believe in them no matter what.

"We have, haven't we?" he chuckled at last, scratching his stomach lazily. "I remember when you were a little ankle-biter too, and kept me bed ridden to make sure my leg was okay."

"And aren't you glad I did?" she burst, but she was grinning widely.

"I still to this day believe it was just to use me as a pillow," he said, closing his eyes but instinctively rolling away. He'd been right to, as she'd dove for him, and nearly landed on him. She was beside him now, laughing loudly, and it was a sweet sound – especially since she'd been down for so long now. Her eyes were closed in the mirth, and her nose was scrunched up in the cutest way. Her lips were turned upwards in a large smile, and her hair cascaded around her face like silk, and in that moment he realised she'd gone from being a child like she was those years ago to being a woman now, and she had been for a while but he'd never noticed. Lost in his own train of thought, he didn't notice that Eleanor had stopped smiling, was looking into his eyes which she could read so well and noticed how he was looking intently at her, how his ears were straight and perked up, his nose twitching feverishly, and his leg was tapping the ground. He didn't notice as she saw his eyes sweeping over her, a look of realisation on his face that he'd never had before. She knew then that he'd just seen her, perhaps only for the briefest of moments, in a way he hadn't before. Seen she'd been growing, and changing, and wasn't the child she once was. She was sixteen, and though only a few years from adulthood and still finishing her development, she was quintessentially a woman.

Nora shuffled forward slightly, snapping Aster back to his senses, and he just lay there, his face barely an inch from hers.

"What are you looking at?" she whispered, her dark eyes searching his lighter ones.

"You've grown up," he replied, his voice different, as if it got caught on the back of his throat on the way out.

"I have been doing since you met me," Eleanor smiled a little. There was a pause between the two, and she bit the inside of her lip a little before shuffling forward that little bit more so her nose brushed lightly against his, then she was up and away, walking towards that exit for the Warren, hoping Aster would have been stunned into silence and shocked still. She felt her heart racing, her cheeks flushed, and just when she was on the last leg to get out he grabbed her from behind, tackled her to the ground and held her there, looking shocked and... hurt.

"Where do you think you're going mate?" he snapped, and she looked up at him with those big brown eyes, not saying a word. She could see he was obviously suddenly stressed, confused and shocked, and he wanted answers. If there was one think she knew about Aster it was that if something just suddenly happened, he wanted answers to it as soon as possible so he could sort through it in his mind.

"Home," she replied, trying to think of ways to deflect the upcoming question, but she came up short.

"Like hell you are!" he cried, his brows furrowing. "What was that about?"

"What was what about?" she asked, her own eyes narrowing.

"Sunflower... you kissed me," he said softly, and that was where she pinpointed the hurt in his voice. He was most upset when talking about her kissing him, there was a vulnerability there, she sensed it.

"I know I did," she then said gently, deciding to change her tactic. She might as well be nice about it, be honest. She did love the Guardian, she'd known that for years.

"Why?" he asked, and he rolled off her, sitting beside her on his hind legs while watching her, both his ears folded flat against his skull.

"I... I don't know," she muttered, rubbing her temple with her forefinger and thumb. There was a pressure point building. But she did know, and she'd known for two years and yet she still hadn't said anything because she was only a child to him, not a woman, and he'd see that as wrong. He would always see it as wrong. "I like you, I guess..." she added in a mutter, but she knew his keen hearing would pick it up as if she were speaking it clear as day.

Aster didn't say another word after that, he looked shocked and horrified, but excited? Nervous? She couldn't tell, but something in him buzzed out of the usual status-quo, and he suddenly seemed very shifty and aggravated. But he never said another word, never even looked her in the eye, and she sighed gently, reaching forward and brushing the fur on his forearm lightly with her fingers before pulling her hand back, standing up reluctantly and leaving through the magical tunnel he'd built that would lead her back to the forest behind her house.


	17. Chapter 17

Aw, this is a bit of a sadder chapter...

As always, enjoy :) don't be mad at me when you read the last line.

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Eleanor could still remember the haunted look on Martin's face, how his words had chilled her to the bone, and eventually his mother had come and pried his arms off her and she left hastily, running through the door and pelting down the street in the pouring rain. She been more reluctant to visit him after that incident, because in her mind she compared how her old friend looked then to how the Nightmare King looked... the similarities were uncanny. Sallow, thin face, haunted eyes...

Comparing him now to how he looked little more than a year ago was just... it was like he was two people from different worlds. His eyes didn't light up any more, he was hunched and jumped at nothing. He regressed back to nothing, and that was what became of Martin, he was living his nightmare, consumed in a world of fear only inside him.

There was nothing more she could do, and so she stopped visiting him as often, then soon not at all. In February word leaked to her that in the mere few weeks he had been home, his manner had improved considerably, he was becoming well enough to converse with people, he was laughing more, he was more like his old self again... and he was asking for her all the time. She refused invitations to his house, holed herself up in her room to stay out of the way when she wasn't at work, but there wasn't much else she could do. She could remember him screaming about dead eyes, how all soldiers were the same... she couldn't stop seeing that tainted image of him, and so she didn't want to go, and kept refusing, and soon the invitations stopped, and she heard from Martin no more.

The summer months cheered her up a little. She woke on the Sunday morning of her birthday and saw a trail of sunflowers leading into the forest... for that matter most of the neighbourhood did, and everyone chattered, wondering where they came from, how had they all just popped up overnight? She was the first to follow the trail into the woods, noticing how the place was suddenly alive with fireflies, there were floral decorations etched into the trees and the place was humming with energy. The people that followed her in suddenly relaxed, wished her a happy birthday as they walked past, but they were more focused on the energy of the woods. It was Aster's doing, he'd been about and set it up, made it come alive like it had years ago when hope was fresh in the minds of each and every child and they played and laughed. Soon they were again, and all they needed was that push from an unknown being, picnic baskets were spread about on the main path, in bushes and hanging from branches and soon it became a hunt to find them, families running about and laughing, sitting down and eating together, and all fear was pushed from their minds, and Eleanor sat watching everyone.

She'd climbed up a large oak tree, sitting on the third thick branch up with her legs dangling down. She was unafraid of falling, there was soft grass below anyway, but the feeling in the wood just gave everyone the sense that no bad could come to them now. It would be okay. She watched as children played together, fathers talked about sport, the race tracks and how they weren't looking forward to going back to work the next day, mothers gossiped and giggled and fussed over babies. And she watched them all, now seventeen years of age, sitting alone but happy, enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on her back, dappled through the leaves, how the breeze was cool but fresh, how the place smelled sweet and thinking about how this really was her favourite time of year, because of things like this. She enjoyed bringing people together, and though she hadn't done it directly, it was because of the oddity that happened on her birthday, and that made her smile.

She, of course, would have to find Aster and thank him, although he'd not spoken to her these past few months since she kissed him, he obviously wasn't doing it to upset her. She thought. He wouldn't have done this for her if he was cutting her out of his life, and she hoped she'd see him again soon, she was missing him terribly.

The Summer months passed, and Autumn rolled about, turning the green leaves all different colours; reds, yellows, golds, browns, and in some cases a blue hue was found in them. She loved Autumn, because it was beautiful, but she resented it a little, because her warm months were gone and they started to be replaced by colder climates and rain, and everything that looked pretty wilted away ready for the snow. The sun was still fairly high in the sky, there were no clouds, but it wasn't as warm, it wasn't light as long as it normally was, and she started feeling lonely too. Aster still hadn't showed himself. She didn't think he was going to, until one night she went out into the garden, out to the woods, and when she was a fair distance in she took the whistle from her pocket and raised it to her lips. She hesitated though, her mind racing and wondering if it was the best idea. She'd been so impulsive, done things when she wanted to with no regard of what it made other people feel like and now she was starting to regret it. She really was. But she missed her friend, her oldest companion and though she loved him more than that, she'd push it down, keep it there, and carry on like friends if he wanted too. She put the whistle back in her pocket without using it.

It was then she felt a tap on her shoulder, and she looked around quickly to come face to face with evergreen eyes, and she smiled.

"I brought you these," he said quietly, and pulled out a bunch of sunflowers, trimmed down to fit in a vase, their heads large and bright and... more beautiful than any sunflower she'd ever seen.

"You didn't have to," she whispered, holding the bouquet in one hand and brushing her hair back with the other. She felt suddenly nervous, which was odd seeing as she started the whole thing, but Aster seemed to sense that and in a moment his arm stretched out and his hand brushed her cheek, slowly, tentatively. "I didn't call you..."

"You didn't have to... now stop panicking," he said gently, more instruction that advice, and she felt obliged to follow it.

"I just don't know what to do," she replied gently, taking the smallest of steps towards him, judging his reaction. He didn't move, didn't flinch away or look nervous, and she found herself with her arms wrapped around his torso and her face pressed into his warm neck. She liked this, although she could feel her heart hammering at her chest, she could also feel his banging away, and it made her smile slightly.

"To be honest, me neither," he said quietly, wrapping one arm around her waist while his other slung over her back, his hand curling up and tangling in her hair. "I don't know how you feel, how I'm meant to feel... crikey, Nora sometimes I still see you as a child, but then sometimes I look at you and you're not that six year old telling me my leg would have to be amputated if I didn't rest. You're not bouncing down the street any more, Roger beside you wearing your scarf as a leash because you forgot his. You don't want me to sneak in at night and tell you all about my best Easters to replace the fairytale stories you're used to... you're not a child any more, are you?"

"No, not really," she mumbled, pulling away slightly to look up at him. "I am only half a year away from becoming a legal adult, I'm seventeen now, remember?"

"Well, fair dinkum, but you have to see it from my point of view too... I've watched you grow up."

"I know, and I do!" she cried out, before wincing slightly at the volume of her own voice, remembering that she was in a public place and anyone could be walking through the woods and hear her shouting to herself. "I just... I wish you wouldn't see me as... a child."

"Not to mention we're of different species, though that may have slipped your mind. I mean, it's not like I'm a bunny and you're a human or anything."

she noted the sarcasm in his voice and shot him a look that stopped him nattering on, but didn't make him hide the smirk on his face.

"People are very racist towards those with black skin, claim they're from a different species, or a race less important than those with white skin. It doesn't stop some people loving one another though, a white woman and a black man, or vice versa."

"It's different, black people are still people. Their skin doesn't change their anatomy," he argued back, and both could see this was going to lead to an outright debate.

"No, but you can see how some people are so against it? It still happens!"

"I'm a six foot, one inch tall Pooka. A mystical Earth warrior, last of my kind, living in my own secret world under the Australian outback. I am the Easter Bunny, I paint eggs then hide them for children to find once a year, I'm not seen by half the world, and the half that does see me will grow up and go blind to me. I'm not someone you wanna associate yourself in that way with! People will think you're a loon, sunflower."

"What if I come and live in the Warren?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What do you think North and Tooth are gonna say about that?" he asked, his ears flattening against his head and his eyes cast upwards to the treetop canopy above them. "Think they'll be okay with one of the children we're meant to protect coming to live with me? Going about having a relationship with me? It's not done, sweetheart."

She pulled away from him. She could understand his point of view, understand that – yes, she was still technically a child, yes, she understood that it wouldn't be a relationship like normal people, nothing like her parents... she would miss her family too much. He would have a hard time coming to terms with it, let alone trying to convince the other Guardians to be okay with it, and she knew it wouldn't be possible. She knew it was a long shot when she kissed him that day, knew nothing would really come of it, so why was she trying to persuade him to get on board with the idea when she herself wasn't sure of it in the first place. She loved him, knew she could never be with him... not in this lifetime, and her heart shattered a little.

"Eleanor, don't be upset... I'll always be here. And... and well now maybe you can see about talking to that brumbie army lad?"

"Martin?!" she cried, head snapping up and a hint of horror in her eyes. "Martin Dingle? Aster, like you said, he used to bully me-"

"And you pointed out you were just kids," the rabbit shot back.

"He's too attached to me for his own good," she tried to reason, but Aster shook his head.

"He loves you, Nora."

"I don't love him!" she cried, tears finally pricking her eyes as it seemed he was trying to force her away now, make her turn her attentions to another. His big green eyes dropped a little, sadness welling in them, and he reached forward to her, cupping her cheek and brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Try to..."

With a wrench she pulled away from him, turning and pelting through the woods back to her home, forgetting about the bouquet she'd dropped beside Aster in the woods, forgetting to stay refined and keep her emotions in check. She burst through the back door of the house, charged upstairs, into her room, slamming the door shut behind her and jumping on her bed to let the floodgates really open and weep.

And she fell asleep there, turning over in the night to cuddle up to her pillow and face the wall, and she was too deeply asleep to notice her bedroom door crack open a little, or the rabbit creep inside quietly, placing the bouquet on her bedside table and watching her sleep for a moment, sadness in his eyes, before he leaned over her sleeping form, pulling the cover over her gently before he placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

"I do love you Eleanor," he whispered, wringing his hands together, worried she'd wake up and hear him and he'd get her hopes up just to bash them down again. "But I... I can't give you a family, I can't give you the life you deserve sunflower... I can't watch you grow old and... lose you."

He stroked his fingers through her hair, before he turned and left for the last time.


	18. Chapter 18

I'm broke with writers block again. Sorry dudes, but I have ten chapters stockpiled, and I'm watching the othe rhalf play Assassin's Creed 2, and I've eaten a CRAP load of chocolate tonight, and I've also pretended I was Beyonce. It's a cure in progress, I can feel the creative juices start pumping again! So I'm gonna go 'single ladies' my way to some lemonade and then I'm going to come back and make a start on chapter 30.

I _have_ ideas! But you know when you're stuck finding a way to get to them? It's the journey, not the destination this time guys. I have the ending to this fic partially in mind, it's just the middle bit being a bitch.

Aaaanyways, I've rambled long enough :) please review, as always!

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It was December 21st, and she knew that because for some unexplainable reason, she always felt so, so low on this day every year. It was the shortest day of the year, the peak of Winter, and she was a creature of sunlight. She thrived in it, longed for it, and it helped her recharge. After waking up about two months ago and seeing the bouquet on her bedside table, she knew Aster had been in to bring them to her, and her heart broke a little, but somewhere deep inside she told herself that they'd get through it all, they'd stay amazing friends and would carry on as normal. She'd fall in love with someone along the way, someone who would actually be there three-hundred and sixty five days a year and would be able to give her all the things she needed in her life. But in two months he hadn't shown his face once, hadn't talked to her, hadn't been around, and it upset her because she put all the blame on herself, blamed herself entirely for this whole thing because if she hadn't gone and kissed him in the first place he would never have known about how she felt, she'd have gotten over it and it would all be fine.

But it wasn't. She was lying in bed that afternoon when her mother poked her head through the door and told her to get herself ready to go out tonight to a nice party in town to celebrate Christmas early, as a lot more boys were going out again on the 23rd, the day before Christmas Eve and it wouldn't be fair not to join them in the celebrations. She was told to wear something nice, and then her mother went to find Mary and tell her the same thing.

She spent most of the afternoon then fussing over what to wear. Her mother had offered to lend her some of her going out heels, but she'd always been far too clumsy for something like that and didn't find the idea of spending Christmas with her leg or arm in plaster appealing. Eventually, she decided to wear the gift she'd gotten from North and Tooth for the first time in public, the one they'd gotten her all those years ago to see if what they'd told her about it was true.

She pulled the dress on over her head, smiling as it slipped down and fit snugly over her hips, in the most beautiful haze of colours she'd ever seen. North had had it made, but Tooth had provided the velvets, silks and chiffons. The neckline was plunging and dipped between her beasts, while the back was open too. It slid over her hips and pooled around her feet, all different greens, oranges, pinks, purples and golds shining out. There didn't seem to be a seam, it seemed as if it had just been fashioned out of the air especially for her, and she was told it would stay with her forever, mould to her shape, grow with her. It was magic. Under the dress she swore a pair of slippers Tooth had made especially for her, they were lighter than air and warm to touch, and she was told they were made out of the finest silks there were, and with a few extra special feathers too. They shone brilliantly like the dress, morphing colours as they went, and she loved them straight away. Her long hair was plaited into its fishtail plait as usual, and brought over her shoulder gently, lying there, making her look pretty. She was told it was for a beautiful young woman to wear, and that she should only wear it on a really special occasion. Lastly, she slipped on the golden ballroom mask Sandy had given her. It seemed the most magical thing of all, brought out the blond tones in her hair and dress and made her eyes seem bigger and more beautiful, but most of all, when she slipped it on everything that had been worrying her went away in a haze, and it was replaced with multitudes of good thoughts. With her necklace on from her sister, the sun pendant dangling around her neck, she felt amazing.

Walking downstairs she saw her sister dressed in a full tulle skirt, red and black, with a lovely silk and lace red and black top to match. She was being a Spanish flamenco dancer since the theme of the night was fancy dress, and as it happened Mary was the first to see her. The girl gaped for ages while just taking in the fairytale look of her sister, and comparing it to that of her Spanish dress.

"Where did you get that?!" she cried, capturing the attention of her parents who turned and looked equally as stunned.

"Santa gave it to me," she replied honestly. She expected her parents to get upset with her, to become angry and shout and demand to know where it was from, but both of them just continued to stare at Eleanor in her beauty and her father smiled a little.

"Santa knows how to pick a nice dress I see," he remarked quietly.

"I wish Santa brought me dressed like that," her mother added, looking at the beautiful dress her daughter was wearing wistfully, before her nose scrunched up a little. "But couldn't he have picked something a little less revealing?"

At this Eleanor stood and gaped, and through an open window there was a chuckle on the wind. Not the one she heard so frequently from Jack Frost, but deeper, warmer, more meaningful at this moment in time... North.

Slowly Eleanor walked to the back door and opened it, looking outside and the wind blaste her face. She heard the laugh again, but it was much fainter, carried on the wind, something to cheer her spirits. Looking up she saw the moon, which was full but a chilling icy blue this night. She suddenly felt weary, but her mother was calling for her to come out now, and she was being dragged along by her sister, out the front door and into the night. No icy chill bit at her. Instead, it felt as if the cold was holding its breath, waiting for her to find somewhere warm before continuing to freeze the rest of the populace. The brunette couldn't help but notice how small puddles along the path were icing over, and how something seemed to be trying to touch her arm. She didn't feel the usual freezing sensation she got when Jack tried touching her, but she felt a tingle. There was some magic in this dress.

He went along the road with them, and she noticed how much more frequently he seemed to be trying to grab her attention, and that uneasy feeling she got earlier was so strong in her stomach that she felt physically ill.

"Dad, I don't feel well... maybe we can go home?" she suggested, but her father hushed her and told her once they were in the warmth she'd settle and it would be okay. Her hand crawled up and clutched in a fist over her heart, where the whistle she had for calling Bunnymund was tucked into her bra. She wasn't going anywhere without it. It might be awkward between the two of them if she called him, he hadn't visited and she knew he was brooding over it, as was she. Her stomach had been churning since she'd done it, wondering if it had been the best thing to do... of course it hadn't! But she had acted on impulse and that was that.

Once at the celebrations she seemed much more relaxed, she eased into things, and she eventually forgot all about her worries. The band there struck up a tune, and a tall handsome stranger bowed before her, asking her to dance. She nodded, smiling back at him while one hand took place at her waist and the other clasped her hand, and together they waltzed, seemingly invisible to the world, and she felt happy enough dancing, but something about the man made her feel a little uneasy. The man was very tall, very slender, and was smiling down at her. As the theme was fancy dress he'd arrived in a half mask of sorts, something operatic, and it covered the top half of his face. She noticed how his skin looked pale, and his hair was jet black and slicked back out of the way. He was wearing a lovely black suit and a dinner scarf around his neck of the same colours as her dress, perhaps a little more gold in the threads. She was beginning to wonder about this man, but it was when she looked into his eyes she froze, her body stock still in place, and she felt ill. She should have listened to Jack and her gut instinct... she should have gone back.

"You're panicking my dear," Pitch hummed to her gently, his hand clasping hers moved slowly and placed her hand on his shoulder, while his hand – now free – found its way down to the side of her ribcage, tracing along the thin fabric and feeling her shudder beneath his touch. He smiled a little, and his hand finally came to a stop at her waist, and suddenly their dance was a lot more intimate, a lot more like one of lovers. "You should relax..."

"Let me go, Pitch!" she hissed, venom in her voice and body tense, as if like a coil wound tightly, ready to spring out.

"Ah, so you've learned my name? How... lovely, it is to hear you say it."

"You're a terrible being," she muttered, moving her hands pointedly between them both, resting on the crook of his elbow. It gave a very stark indication that Nora was trying to put something between herself and the man she was dancing with, and Pitch noticed it and smirked. "Leave me and my family alone."

"I'm not bothered about your family," he replied, his lips tight as he replied, his golden eyes narrowing. "It's only ever been you, child. I've watched you for years, how you've believed unconditionally, how you've grown and adapted... you even always believed in me, and didn't pass me off as a mothers' tale."

"Well, North is supposed to just be legend... if he's not, then by that token you're not either."

"Precisely!" he hissed, leaning in so his lips were against Nora's ear, and she could feel his hot ragged breath. "I need people to know I exist. My power is growing, more people live in fear... but I need more. I need more people to be afraid."

"I believed in you without being afraid of you though," the brunette gasped, tottering back a little away from the hot breath. "I've never been afraid of you."

"You're afraid now," he pointed out, smirking in smug self satisfaction.

"I am, now," she admitted, "but there's a lot for me to be afraid of right now."

"You have a point," Pitch nodded, then all of a sudden he went rigid, his eyes widening considerably and he looked at her. "Get out of here."

"Wh- what?" she asked, surprised by his sudden change in tone.

"Leave, now. There are bombers coming, call the rabbit and the rest of them, this part of town is next."

He went to move away but she was quick too, and she caught his wrist and the Nightmare King looked back with narrowed golden eyes.

"Why do you care?" she asked, her own eyes wide and curious, and he only smirked.

"I live for fear and terror, I strike it into peoples' hearts and I grow stronger from it. Wars are brilliant for inducing fear, but if everyone dies in a war, who will be left to be scared?"

And the sirens were wailing, but the people in the hall stood there in mild shock, looking about slowly at one another, as if wondering what to do. Officials were shouting for people to move, but it took moments for everything to register, for them to realise they should be heading into the basement, and then there was mass panic, and Eleanor looked about wildly to try and spot her family. She looked back to see where Pitch had gone, but there was no sign of him... She found her mother, and her father, and they were both shouting fer her and Mary, and she ran to them, grabbing her mothers arm. Before she could ask, the answer came to her, a whisper cold as night and evil as sin, that smooth voice belonging to the spirit she just danced with,

"_She's gone for the dog..._"


	19. Chapter 19

My hamster died this morning. So I'm really depressed, and I decided to share that feeling with you all. Enjoy, or don't. Nyaa...

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She'd gone for Roger.

The sounds of humming started ahead, mixing with the sirens and filling her body with a sense of dread she had only felt once before, in the woods when she'd lost Mary at the start of the air raid that Easter. But now Mary was nowhere to be seen, her parents were beside themselves in similar fright, but they had no idea their child was in so much danger. People were milling away, running for shelters and to the cellar of the town hall for cover, where they would be safe. Her parents were still screaming for Mary, and she did all she could think of.

"She's already in the cellar!" she cried, grabbing her mothers hand and her fathers arm and pushing her parents to the doors leading downwards to safety, and they went blindly, taking her word for it since she'd sounded so confident, so sure. They went looking for their youngest child and when they were past the doors she turned on her heel and left, running the other way, dodging past a young policeman who tried to catch her, stop her.

"Miss! Where're you going?" he cried, running to catch up with her and grabbing her arm tightly when he did. She looked up at him, staring into his startlingly blue eyes which were scared and confused, but his face was fixed, and though she glared at him with every ounce of contempt she had in her body.

"My sister ran home to get the dog!" she screamed, tugging her arm but he kept hold tight. "She's in trouble, please I need to go!"

He looked at her blankly, but in a second he nodded and let her go, and he ran alongside her as she ran for home, screaming for Mary. She could see a figure moving down the street, someone clad in black and red and she screamed out her name, ripping her mask off as she did and throwing it to the side, knowingly throwing away her only comfort and running on without it.

She didn't turn back to see the glittering mask disintegrate, golden sand slipping away in the rain that started falling, hard and fast, beating them like frozen little daggers, ripping at her skin and sending the most horrid chill down her spine.

"Mary!" Eleanor cried, pushing harder then she thought she could have, picking up the hem off the dress and running faster and faster. Ice was nipping at her skin, her hair flew out behind her as she went, and something pushed her on. The sheer instinctive sense within her that she needed to find her sister, find the child and pull her from danger, protect her. On thing seemed to stand out the most now, and it was a long, droning whistling sound... and looking up she saw the planed in formation, enemy planes, and the whistling sound was the bomb one of them had just dropped, while the others were let off on streets to the side of them. She heard the scream of sirens as she turned the corner onto her street and saw a building before her burst into flames with an almighty roar, and she froze. Mary was before it, lay down in the road because of the after shock from the explosion. It was the house beside theirs, but flames were catching, and their home caught on the side, and the flames were consuming, greedy and destructive. Mary stood, and she knew her intentions and what the girl would do before she even moved. And she saw, the child went into their home, and a scream ripped from her throat as she moved faster than before, sheer adrenaline fuelling her, pumping through her veins. In seconds she'd outstripped the officer and was running into the building, coughing as she went. She heard cries from upstairs, knowing Mary was up there looking for Roger who upon loud noises would hide under her bed. It was a task now, the house was filled with smog and smoke, and the kitchen was basking in a deathly red glow. Fighting through the flame, fighting through the smoke and holding back her choking coughs, she pressed on, knowing the young policeman wasn't behind her now, he was outside, and she battled the stairs. They creaked below her, and she smelled burning wood, her feet felt like they were burning and she knew they weren't long for standing. Eleanor had just managed to stagger the top of the stairs, slam into the wall opposite on the landing, her hand covered her mouth and the second she was up the fire burst through them, engulfing the stairs and eating away at them. She looked back in spite of herself, big brown eyes wide with fear.

Then she turned back to the task at hand, knowing she had now only one escape from the house, and that was out the window. But damn everything she'd get Mary out first.

Bursting through the door to Mary's room, she saw the child on the floor, curled into a corner, coughing and holding onto their dog tightly, tears streaming down her face. She looked up and saw Eleanor, saw her older sister who had chased her and battled the burning building to get her, and her eyes clouded with even more tears.

"I'm sorry Eleanor!" she cried, as Nora shut the door behind her and made her way into the room slowly, trying to pick out everything in the room through the thick smoke. She could hear the sirens wailing outside, but more had joined. Ripping the curtains open when she got to the window she saw the fire-engine in the street and something else filled her heart, beating the fear out. She looked up quickly at the sky, noting how though rain fell heavily she could still see the moon shining through.

"Don't worry about it," she replied, her voice calm and steady, despite the destruction around them. She turned and spotted the bedside table, and in one swift motion she picked it up, ignoring how heavy it felt and how it dug into her arm, and she tossed it through the window, shattering the glass before picking up the candlestick that had rolled off and onto the floor and hitting away at the sharp shards that remained. Firemen ran up the path and under the window, shouting for her to jump, but she pulled herself away from the window, crouching beside her sister on the floor.

The house around them was groaning in protest, and it seemed to shudder angrily. They could both see flames in the hallway under the door, saw the smoke billowing in that made them both cough and splutter.

"Mary, listen to me, it'll be okay."

Her sister looked at her, eyes wide in fright, and Nora – without thinking – plunged her hand into the top of her dress and pulled out the whistle. She blew it quickly, then pressed it into her sisters' hand, while pulling her to her feet and leading her to the window. Mary didn't let go of Roger at all, held onto him tightly. Nora knew she didn't have long, the house was cracking, groaning and creaking, she could hear the beams splintering in the roof and the door was on fire now, flames creeping into the room.

"Trust me Mary," she whispered into the childs' ear, lifting her onto the window ledge, holding her facing her and kissing her on the nose. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," she whimpered, shaking like a leaf. "Yes, I trust you."

"Okay, then I'll see you there," Nora grinned, her heart beating erratically and she pushed her sister from the window and stuck her head out quickly to see one of the men below catch her and run back away from the house to push her into the arms of their parents who had obviously gotten out and come to find them, who were now watching on in horror. But she felt only calm as the building around her shook and roared...

Aster heard the whistle blowing sharply, instantly in the middle of the night, and he knew Eleanor wanted him for something. Though reluctant to see her after leaving her those months ago, he stood up quickly and tapped his foot, but as he ran through his tunnels he felt dread clutching at him, and he ran faster, feeling something biting at him that he didn't want to feel. He didn't know why...

Then he surfaced, crawling out onto the tarmac of the road and looking up, his green eyed widening and flames reflected on them, and he saw her house burning, saw her sister but feet from her coughing in fits and covered in ash, while the dog lay beside her whimpering and wheezing, their parents screaming for her. Fire fighters were in the street, running back and forth, trying to douse the flames, but one group in particular caught his eye, those stood by the house shouting up to a window...

And he looked to that window, his heart hammering away as he saw the brown haired girl looking out, climbing up onto the window ledge clumsily, and he couldn't move. It was watching his worst nightmare come true, and though he wanted to run and grab her from danger, though his instinct was urging him forward he couldn't move, his body was twitching but he couldn't move an inch, and he heard screaming coming from so many... as the building crumbled, and those firemen stumbled back hastily, crying out... and one scream in particular ripped his heart to shreds, and he screamed out back to her, as he watched the flames engulf the house and it crashed down, sending smoke pluming up into the sky. At that his body snapped into action and he went to rush to the collapsed building, but someone grabbed him.

"Bunny, leave it!" a young man shouted. Aster barely registered him, barely looked at the teen with the bright white hair, whose blue eyes filled with tears as he geld onto Aster tightly, pushing him back. He didn't register the freezing sensation about his chest as the boys arms held onto him tightly, he only wanted to get to Eleanor.

"No! No, ger'off me!" he shouted, scrambling about and trying to reach the house and the girl inside. If he could just get there now he could save her, he told himself, he could, he just could.

"It's too late," Jack choked, holding onto Aster and looking him in the eye. Those sparkling blue met the green, and it hit him in the heart.

"I... no... no she can't..."

"I'm sorry Bunny," Jack choked, his voice catching in his throat, and then there was an extra pair of hands there, holding onto Aster, and a child curled into his side, weeping. And both the Guardian and the Winter Spirit looked down at the girl who was sobbing her heart out. And Aster stopped fighting, stopped trying, and held onto Mary, and they cried together. Because she had led Eleanor there, and she hated herself in that instant for it, and he had been there before the house went down, and he hadn't moved to save her...

He hadn't protected her.

He hadn't been her Guardian.

And when the street was cleared and the grieving family were taken away to be cared for, Jack was stood there awkwardly, one hand on the rabbit's shoulder, quietly watching him, and Aster could only keep watching the smouldering house. The ambulance had arrived... and when they finally found her, pulling her limp body from the wreckage, it was painfully obvious that she was void of life. Her arms were covered in blood, her dress singed and stained with her life, her hair grey with ash, her lips parted in a silent scream, an echo of what had started before it ended for her, and those beautiful brown eyes... her beautiful brown eyes wide and staring upwards, reflecting the moon.


	20. Chapter 20

I was going to end the story in the last chapter when I originally planned it, but I figured a lot of people would be unhappy with me xD so I continued it, through writers block and all sorts just to make sure I did a bleeding story, and didn't have to rename myself Arthur.

Arthur Job.

So here is what would not have been if I had been Arthur, had killed off my OC, had not thought a story through and had left Aster in emotional turmoil.

Enjoy :)

* * *

At first, all she felt was intense heat, and excruciating pain. And it was dark... so, so dark... Her breath came in short gasps, like it was hard for her to breath and she moaned lightly when she stirred, because there was just pain... pain all over her body.

Then she found the energy to open her eyes, brown ringed with gold, and she looked up at the sky above her, and the moon looked down, and then all her pain was gone, and she felt fresh and renewed and happy...

Something silent encouraged her to sit up, look about, and she did. The first thing she noticed was the beautiful dress she was wearing. It was soft and feather-light to touch, made of delicate materials that sparkled and glowed all different colours. There was literally a rainbow of colours, and it took her eyes a moment to pick up the intricate blend, but what stood out most were the greens, oranges, pinks, purples and golds. She remembered it being longer, brushing her ankles and gliding across the floor. She liked it this way, it made her smile when she stood and it fluttered about her knees. She was wearing the necklace her sister had bought her, though it seemed a little tarnished, and then she noticed how cool the grass was, and she curled how toes into it, sighing at the feeling. She didn't mind being barefooted, she felt too warm anyway. Her mind was racing. She had no idea where she was or how she got there, and last thing she knew she'd just thrown her sister out of the window to the firemen and then everything was a blur. Reaching up to scratch her head, she felt a difference, and nearly fell over backwards.

Her hair was gone. Not entirely, she still had a head full, but it was cut short, probably only an inch or two long at the front, and at the back it was even shorter, only coming to the nape of her neck and she felt her mouth drop open in shock. It felt wrong, she was used to it being longer, thicker and draping around her shoulders all the time. However she felt her head was much lighter, the hair felt like it was ruffled and the more she ran her fingers through it the more she found she liked it. She'd never had short hair before, and now she thought about it she knew it took her hours to brush through it so it wasn't tangled, but then she'd sleep on it and she'd wake up with a head full of knots. This would be much easier.

She looked about her, noticing she was in a field of sorts, and some childish energy bubbled inside her, made her want to run and explore the place she was in, but as she went to take a step forward she noticed the light around her grew brighter. Looking up she saw the moon, and she moon saw her, and his voice sounded around her, warmer her, sent chills down her spine...

"_Eleanor,_" he said gently, his voice ringing in her ears. "_I am tasking you with the season of your birth. The Summer is yours, and the Earth has been sorely missing the warmth it has brought for years. Command it, make it warm, bring happiness. That is your duty._"

"My duty?" she replied, her voice a gentle whisper, melodious but powerful even in the quiet. The moon did not reply, in fact when she looked up he was gone, and instead the sky was lightening and she huffed slightly before looking about the field she was in. The grass was long, and she saw buds there but most were dying... she touched them, asking why, and she knew it was lack of warmth. They told her so, and she pulled her hand back in shock. It was summer now, but the season had been cold again again. For earth below her feet told her it had been so for ten years... but nobody knew why, and she couldn't make sense of how she knew this. Or how she was being told. People were living in misery, in a depression, and crops were failing. And then she felt the burst of it on the horizon, felt the tingle on her skin, and turned to the source of light breaking over the hills yonder. And Nora thought about what the moon had told her, didn't question him, but looked at the sun and pulled it, urged it to become brighter and whispered for it to come out and stop hiding. It did. Bright rays streamed through the clouds and warmed the Earth for the first time in a long time, and she looked about at the flowers and smiled, and spread her arms and willed each one open, and they did with gusto, following her direction.

Her chest swelled with happiness, and she looked about her with a bright smile on her face, only for it to fade when she saw the flowers. They were red. The deepest, bloodiest red she'd seen. Darker than the most bloody sunset, and she felt her heart tug, and her lips were whispering words to the plants.

"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow... between the crosses, row on row..."

And she looked up, and frowned. She remembered the poem that had been read in a church service once, dedicated to the dead soldiers... she spoke the words to the wind and it caressed her, ruffling her short hair gently and stroking her cheeks.

"Where am I?" she asked, walking slowly through the field, the red flowers bursting to life as the sun broke through the cloud and shone in earnest. She continued walking, never tiring, never struggling, just walking, until she came to a road and looked down it. There was a few men and a cart coming her way, and she smiled, rushing out to meet them to ask them some questions.

"Sir, sir can I have a moment?" she called, but he ignored her, walked towards her as if she weren't there, and before she could move... he went through her. She gasped and clutched her arms, looking at him in shock as he continued on, quietly, never seeing her. Her heart plunged, and she looked about wildly to the road where the cart followed shortly. She didn't say a word this time, she just stood there, waiting. The horse snorted, reared a little, noticed her and she reached out to touch his nose, but a whip sounded and he whinnied, jerking forward but he swerved around her, much to the dissatidfaction of the men. It was a shock to her system, she was horrified and she touched her skin, as if checking she could still touch herself... and she could, so what was wrong?

She continued walking, down the road in the direction he'd come from and she found herself in a small town where everyone was speaking a language she recognised as French, but couldn't speak a word of. They chattered happily, rapidly, celebrating something. The warmth, most likely.

Aware that nobody could see her she walked around the small town, touching plants on people's doorsteps and in hanging baskets, watching as they burst into life again and she spread the warmth where she could, bringing Summer back where she went. She needed help, needed someone to talk to who could see her, and she felt very sad, not knowing what to do.

For days Eleanor walked, learning some of the language and the fact that she'd ended up in the south of France, and she learned their mannerisms, though she cared little for them. She watched the women, and thought they tried too hard to impress, with their tight revealing clothing and shameless flirting, and the men were complete cads, preying on women in their drunkard states. Of course, she did notice not every man and woman was like that. She paid more heed to those who acted, in her opinion, respectably, but the majority seemed to be revelling in something, and celebrating it with copious amounts of wine.

So she escaped the towns and cities, and headed for the countryside. Along the path she found a long thin stick, it came up to her shoulders and twisted so beautifully... it looked like a willow branch, bended like one, and she liked it. She found she could channel herself through it, taught herself how to, trailed it along the ground and made flowers grow there where it had been, smiled the more she did it, loving the life it brought around her and the smiles it brought to faces of people who passed when they were spotted. The branch also made for a good thing to haul herself up the hills with, and she found it particularly good for hitting at wolves with. She hadn't thought they had things like that in France, but apparently they did, and they liked to chase her around. They didn't seem to be vicious with her, but she didn't like them coming too close.

One night, the girl walked through a valley, her feet in the water of the river flowing through it, and she felt the moon pulling her, urging her to go one way, and she followed the pull, looking where she thought she should be, and she saw the most beautiful bird perched in a tree.

It had a long neck, not as long as a swan, but certainly longer than any other average bird... its eyes were beady black, as was its beak and talons. With long feathers and tail, it looked majestic. But what captured her heart more was the colour. It embodied flame and sun, shone bright like both.

White upon its chest, but reds, oranges, yellows and golds decorating its body, wings and tail, she loved it immediately. And then it flew to her, landed upon her arm, and she felt the intense heat and saw blinding light and then it was gone, and her body aglow with such warmth she felt at peace, and she lay there beside the river, curled into the grass and heather, and she slept.


	21. Chapter 21

Another chapter! Because I love you people.

Today, I buried Loki the hamster, my little baby, not even 4 months old, went into hibernation and died of shock waking up. I love him, and may he be with the Norse gods now, kicking Avenger butt. Amen.

Anyways, hope you like, and if you're checking out my other RotG fic** 'Slave to Darkness'** then I'm currently writing more, thanks to encouragement from **aquodox **and if you haven't checked out **HerLittleSecret's **fic **'Never** **Alone'** then I recommend it, because she's really good for such a young writer :)

That is all folks, please review!

* * *

He'd never fully recovered from her death, never been able to convince himself that it wasn't his fault she died, never managed to tell himself that he couldn't _physically_ move... so couldn't help her. He felt terribly, lay there every night thinking about the girl he'd let down ten and a half years ago. His heart wrenched as he realised what month it was, and how in just three and a half weeks she would have been twenty seven, possibly with a husband and children, and a home of her own. How she would be so beautiful, and they'd all be happy... or perhaps he'd have given into his want, and he'd have her now, she'd be lay here beside him, face buried in his chest, fingers tangled in his fur...

His sunflower.

Rolling out of his nest he crawled up the rabbit hole to the Warren and looked out across the pond where she'd laid and spoke to him, and he could still see those beautiful brown eyes when he blinked, see that long brown hair framing her face and how soft it was to touch.

Shaking his head he made one giant leap and landing on the other side of the pond on the banks, and shook himself, yawning as he looked about at the Warren and frowned. Walking out for a bit he stretched his legs and back, yawning widely and looking about. It looked like dusk, but it was morning, and the fireflies he'd introduced to the place ten years ago were thriving, but instead of their usual orange glow they'd adopted different colours – such as pinks, purples and reds. It gave a bit more colour to the place, made it seem a bit nicer, and he liked them. They were like his own version of fairy lights, and he always laughed about them with North because he had the slight advantage that they didn't have to be plugged in. However despite the warm glow from the insects and the fact that it was early morning, it seemed cold. It had been cold all over the world for ten years, it seemed, even here beneath Australia this time of year, and it had been odd, but since the end of the war there hadn't seemed to be a decent summer yet, but he felt it in his whiskers that something was changing.

He was Guardian of Hope, Spring and Earth, he knew when something was happening, but he needed a second opinion, however much he didn't want to go there. Tapping his foot on the ground he dived down the tunnel and ran fast, coming up moments later in the ice where his fur chilled through.

"Bloody Nora!" he cried without thinking, but upon saying the name while cursing – just an average phrase really – his heart dropped, and he felt miserable running through the snow to the North Pole. In he scampered through the cave, up the flight of stairs past some bewildered looking yetis, and he saw the fireplace crackling away in the main room where he could overlook the globe. He sat by it, warming his feet, and he head someone heavy coming his way, and turned his head to see North looking at him carefully.

"Is not often I see you, least this time of month," he noted, his normally booming voice very soft and quiet.

"Yeah, well I need to know something," he said quickly, standing up. Despite him standing at six foot one, North towered above him, almost like some kind of Russian giant. The older man was easily seven feet tall, if not more.

"What is that?" the bearded man asked, smiling warmly down at him, and slyly kicking an elf to the side that was pulling at his pants leg.

"Do you feel a change?" Aster asked, watching the small creature bounce away. "In the air..."

"A change? Yes, but not in the air," he chuckled, and Aster waved his hand at him as the older bloke tapped his stomach.

"Yeah, yeah, in your belly. I heard that one before mate," he said stiffly, looking about at all the elves that were suddenly swarming about them, tugging at North's pants and – somewhat painfully – his fur. "what that-?"

"Always underfoot!" North cried, but when they looked where the elves were pointing to, they saw Tooth and Sandy in the doorway, looking slightly awestruck.

"Tooth! Sandy!" North cried, bounding forward and welcoming their friends in with gusto, while Aster took in their expressions and the way they seemed so stiff and anxious. "What brings you here my friends? You feeling change too?"

Sandy nodded vigorously, while Tooth 'um'ed about it.

"Well, I only sense something changing, but Sandy... saw something. He says the moon told him Summer is coming, something is bringing Summer back."

"Summer?" Bunnymund whispered, eyes narrowing before he bound forward and looked up through the skylight to the moon. The Pooka looked up, while the moon looked down, big and bold, and as if he was holding something back. "You've brought Summer back?"

"No, Bunny, not Summer... but _Summer_," Tooth corrected him, biting her lip.

"It's... Tooth that's the same thing," Aster said quietly, rubbing his temple between his eyes.

"No, it's not. One is the season, the other is the personification of the season. We think. He saw a bird flying through Canada last night too, one with amazing red feathers-"

"A parrot?" he replied sarcastically, and Tooth slapped his forearm in frustration.

"No! Ugh... Sandy, you tell him."

The three Guardians turned to the eldest of them, and the golden little man gaped at them before shrugging and conjuring a question mark above his head.

"I don't know how you're going to explain it, but he's just not understanding me," Tooth moaned, rubbing the back of her neck while Aster and North shared a questioning look and rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, so send in the mute to tell me what's going on..." he muttered, low enough so Tooth wouldn't hear but North would, and he set the older man off into laughter.

He watched Sandy intently though, watching as he conjured up a cloud of sand that half morphed into images, but changed midway so he never got a clear image of what it was. Then a look of inspiration lit his face, and he morphed the sand above his head, so slowly it shaped one of the most beautiful birds he could have imagined. He knew of legends, knew of mythical creatures seeing as he was technically one as well. This bird... this was a phoenix, a creature of the sun and flame and eternal life. What it was doing flying around the globe was beyond him, but he sure as hell wanted to find out.

"What about it, Sandy?" he asked, and then Tooth chipped in.

"It's bringing Summer... but we need to know where it came from."

"Wouldn't it be more easy to ask Mani?" North asked, his voice booming out.

"Can do. It was like this with that damned Groundhog donkeys ago, remember? Let him get used to things on his own for a bit before he sent us in to welcome him over," Aster added, his face sour. He really hated the Groundhog, and the others knew, and snickered slightly to themselves as he relived the memory of their first meeting. The creature was, admittedly, very annoying.

"Then we ask Mani!" North bellowed happily, turning to look up at the hatch the moon shone through. Each Guardian looked up in curiosity, and slowly the moon grew brighter. "Mani, you have brought us new spirit, no?" North asked with a wide smile on his face. And from the stone flooring where their murals were, rose the podium, the clear crystal shining in the moonlight and their eyes widened as a figure formed in the light upon the tip of the crystal.

Each Guardian approached to inspect the figure of a girl more closely, looking at her knee length dress and short choppy hair. Then Aster looked at the girls face, looking into those eyes, and he reeled back in shock. The others gave him a strange look, and continued inspecting the look of this girl, muttering about how she looked nice, friendly enough, and the bunny shuffled further away from them, sat on the ground and struggled to control his breathing. It couldn't be her, there was no way, and as he looked over again at the light he tried to tell himself that he was just fooling himself into believing that, he was thinking about her too much and he was imagining her face on this new person. And the others had seen her too, they knew how she looked, they'd have recognised her if it was her...

But he'd known her better, saw her more... he'd recognise that face and those eyes anywhere. He was only vaguely aware that North had approached him, was knelt beside him with one hand on his shoulder.

"You okay Bunny?" he asked again, gently, his voice very soft. There was something Aster saw in those blue eyes that made him wonder, but he ignored it, nodded his head sharply and whispered a 'yeah'.

"Mate, there's something I need to do," he said quietly, and North nodded a little before backing off and watching the Pooka Guardian. "But we... we should keep an eyes out for the girl, and I have an idea."

Both Tooth and Sandy had methods of looking about for such an outstanding bird all over the world, and it wouldn't take a minute for him to get there with his tunnels. North too, he could use his magic portals to get there whence he was made aware of where the girl was. He explained his plan to them, how Tooth and Sandy could keep feelers out there with the mini fairies and the sand and he'd get there as soon as possible when he was made aware the location. They all went about chattering about it, and he slipped away, looking out the window and sighing slightly as let his mind wander back to the topic that made his heart hurt that morning. He needed to do it more now, since seeing the face in the light, he needed to check...

It hadn't felt the same without Eleanor these past ten years, and he decided he should go and pay his respects to her today while he had the chance. He couldn't have managed it later in the month, he knew that. Tapping his foot lightly on the ground, he opened a tunnel and leapt down it, not looking at his friends who had been watching him carefully, noting how sad he looked and letting him be as he went about doing what he needed to do.

* * *

When Aster had disappeared down the hole North shared a sad look with Tooth and Sandy. Of course they all remembered the child who had become such close friends with Bunny those years ago, the girl who grew and saw them all, believed so strongly. They each remembered that night she had died, how her light on the globe flickered and went out, and how when they looked into it they were horrified to find out she was dead. It was a few hours later that Aster appeared, standing in the doorway looking shell shocked and broken. How he never said a word, because he knew they already knew, and how when he thought they'd left him to grieve he'd broken down in tears, and didn't even care that Tooth had him in her arms, hushing him and stroking his head, swallowing a lump in her own throat.

The Russian walked to a cabinet and pulled out one long, thin candle, set it up on a golden candlestick and lit it, watching the flame for a small while. They did it every year, lit one candle for her at the start of her birth month that would burn all the way through. Because never had one child touched them so much, loved them so much, and believed so strongly. They loved her, respected her, and paid tribute to her memory.

"Sleep well, Eleanor," North whispered, while Tooth echoed his words and Sandy nodded slightly, each staring into the yellow flame as it burned.


	22. Chapter 22

Right, so this is a shorter chapter when compared to my others, but ah well. I wasn't going to update today, because I'm falling behind on my writing. Before I started posting the story I had 17 chapters stockpiled. Now I only have 8, so I'm afraid I'll have to not post as frequently until the creative juices get running again.

Review if you like, but guys, we hit the 100 mark, and I'm overjoyed by that! It's amazing, so lets go for 120! Baby steps, baby steps :)

* * *

Aster appeared in the woods where Eleanor had lived, and walked quietly down the trail he'd walked with her so many times, under the canopy of the trees she'd climbed and through the bluebell patches she'd loved so much. He bent beside them and scooped a bunch from the ground, gathering them into a small bouquet and walking along with them until he reached the edge of the woods, overlooking the town. There was a well beaten path leading up from the main road, and it was familiar to him, but only in the sense that it used to lead from a back garden that wasn't there, starting from a back door that didn't exist. The house had never been rebuilt...

He walked down slowly, not bothering that there were people about because they were all too old to see him. It was the children walking with their parents who would gawk, but they never said a word as he always pressed his finger to his lips, smiling slightly at them as they turned back around with the widest grins on their faces. He stood on the empty plot of land, looking about. Where the weeds and dirt were now, he could imagine the hallway, and himself struggling to get up the stairs because of that damned dog she had, sitting on her bed while the six year old girl wrapped his leg up, and when he'd snook the fifteen year old out of the house for her birthday. He remembered everything about her, her love for the warm seasons, how she hated vegetables if they were any colour besides green and how she'd argue profusely that a tomato wasn't a fruit when it clearly was. She had those quirks to her.

He also remembered how she was fiercely protective, saving him from her dog, watching over her niece Alice, and saving her sister from a house fire... which is what ultimately killed her.

He didn't realise he'd sunk to his knees when a cough sounded behind him, and his head whipped around to look at a young woman who was the spitting image of the girl he was grieving for. Except there were certain differences. Her eyes were more rounded, whereas Eleanors' had been almond shaped, her nose was less streamline and more pointed, and her hair didn't glow with golds and reds, but stayed a plain glossy brown. And she was shorter, at least three inches shorter.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again," Mary murmured, sitting beside him and pulling her knees up to her chest.

"I just... I just wanted to pay my respects," he explained, feeling very awkward. He remembered Mary from all those years ago, how they'd held one another as they cried and how he'd pointedly avoided her since. Being close to his sunflower's family had always seemed too painful to do.

"You're in the wrong place for that," she said with a small frown. "I was just on my way to the cemetery, but I felt like I had to stop by here first. Would you like to come with me?"

"I'd... I'd love to."

And the pair stood up, both feeling extremely awkward and shifting from foot to foot in front of one another before Mary pointed to the road and the two of them walked together, and she kept looking at him from the corner of her eye as they went to see the grave. It struck him that Mary was easily now twenty one, as she'd been eleven when Eleanor had died, and she was talking to him and walking with him and looking at him, so she must still believe, and he wanted to ask her about it.

"How do you still see me?" he asked quietly. "You're meant to have grown up."

"Would you have said that to Nora if she still saw you now?" she replied sharply, sounding hurt. "Or would you be fine with it, because you loved her?"

"I- what?" he cried, looking at her with big green eyes, how could she have known such a thing?

"Everyone loved Eleanor," she said, her voice dropping in pitch, tone and the anger seeped away. "She was beautiful, and confident, and kind... and she was a hero... how could you not love her?"

"I honestly thought Eleanor would have stopped believing in me yeas before she left..." he muttered, and Mary looked at him with her big brown eyes, so alike her sisters'.

"Really? I thought you were best friends? She always told stories about you, and knew so much about you..."

"Well, maybe we were, but I'm used to people forgetting ya know? People grow up."

They continued walking, and the streets were oddly quiet, and the air hummed with birds and insects, and the flowers smelled sweet. And it was warm. That was what got him, it was warm. There was a silence between them now that no longer seemed awkward or tense, but it was one of shared emotions. Both loved the girl they'd lost, both had reasons for blaming themselves for her death – Mary went for the dog, Aster hadn't moved to save her – but neither blamed the other. Aster understood Mary loved the dog, and she understood he had been too scared to move. The graveyard seemed the most eerie place though. The streets were quiet besides nature, but here it was as if death had silenced the world. No birds sang. No insects hummed. The wind dare not breathe, and time seemed to stand still. Together to odd pair made their way through the columns of headstones, marble statues and chipped crosses. Slowly they approached one headstone in particular and as Mary stood looking at it, Aster knelt before it and bowed his head, reading the inscription.

'_Our sunflower, lent not given, to bud on Earth, and bloom in Heaven._'

It touched him, and he smiled slightly to himself, laying the bluebells beside the gravestone and staying there quietly. Mary was silent too, neither shed a tear or moved, just stood there and remembered the girl, remembered how lovely she was and how much she did in her short life for the both of them, in their own ways. Mary was the first to break the silence.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered, and Aster looked up with surprise etched into his features, but she was not looking at him, she was looking at the granite stone, and the earth beneath it. "I don't know what to do, Nora, we're not even married..."

Aster gulped, eyes flickering from the girl before him to the stone beside him, and he wasn't sure what to do. Now she said it he noticed the small swell of her stomach, growing larger with child and he felt somewhat stupid for not noticing earlier. He felt sorry for the girl in some respect as he knew in this day and age and in this society, a woman having a child out of wedlock was something to be frowned upon. He didn't understand why though, if both parents loved the bub then what was the problem? He wanted to say as much, but the wind swept in then and blasted around them, and it was warm and smelled sweet, and made his heart lift despite where he was and what he was doing. Mary seemed to feel it too and a small smile broke across her lips.

"I'll manage won't I?" she whispered, and Aster looked around at her then to the gravestone, before she chuckled a little, and tapped him on the shoulder. "Do you think?"

"Oh! Me? Yeah, if you're anything like Nora you're a set trooper already," he grinned, and she chuckled in agreement. For a little while longer they stayed there, and then Mary moved, walking forward and leaning over to place a soft kiss on the stone before whispering a goodbye, turning and leaving Aster there alone. He watched as the girl walked away, knowing it would probably be the last time he ever saw her... there wasn't any reason to keep contact to be honest, and it would feel to awkward.

So he sat alone with Eleanor, looking at the gravestone intently as if expecting it to do something, and he felt frustrated that something wasn't out of the ordinary here. He could have sworn he'd seen her face earlier, would have bet his life he did... he'd come expecting the Earth to have risen, for a miracle to have happened, and the site was clean and beautiful as it had been for ten years, and his heart dropped, and he wanted to curl up and forget everything for just one day, and not wake up in the morning and think about her...

Then he heard another voice, something high pitched and squeaking, and he looked about sharply to see one of Tooth's mini fairies in a flap, and he held a hand out for her to land on. He could barely understand the little thing, and she huffed slightly at him before grabbing for something on her hip.

"Sorry Sheila," he muttered, taking the small scroll from the mini fairy and unrolling it carefully. It only contained co-ordinates, but that was how they worked.

35° 41′ 22.22″ N, 139° 41′ 30.12″ E

Quickly he leaned forward and placed his nose against the cold granite, whispering a goodbye before standing and tapping his foot on the ground a safe distance away from the grave sites. He jumped down, and in moments he was on his way to Tokyo, Japan.


	23. Chapter 23

Hey guys, another chapter :D

We're nearly at 120 reviews! This is epic! We're all awesome!

Anyways, I know you're all calling for the two of them to meet already, and we're nearly there! I promise! Just read on and be slightly annoyed that in this chapter we get so close. So close... but so far away xD

* * *

A brightly coloured bird soared over the city of Tokyo in the morning light, circling around the perimeter of the city before gliding off towards the white peaked mountain ahead, heading over rivers and ravines and skimming over cliff tops, wings wide as it swooped down, in its' talons was a long straight staff of sorts, the bark scorched somewhat, giving off a glossed shine to it in the strangest way. As the bird swooped down upon the mountain and slowed its flight, it aimed for a large cherry blossom tree and landed with the utmost grace any animal could.

In seconds, those long feathers retracted, the bird changed shape, dropped the staff to the ground, and in the tree sat a girl with short chocolate brown hair flecked with reds and golds, the brightest brown eyes rimmed with gold, and a smile upon her pretty face. She hugged the tree as she watched the sun rise upon the horizon, casting silhouettes over the city before her as the sky lit up in pinks and reds and shades of gold, and she watched happily as the light reached up over the city, starting on the peak of Mt Fuji and working down. She saw the sun, the light blinding her temporarily before she managed to adjust her eyes, and she felt the warmth flood her body, starting on her shoulders and ending in her toes.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked nobody in particular, hugging herself with a soft smile on her face. Her short hair was ruffled by the breeze and she sighed in contentment as she looked over the country.

"It is," a voice came from behind her, deep and lulling but the suddenness of it made her jump out of her skin and fall from the tree. She landed with a thump and a muffled yell, and whoever it was behind her cried out too, obviously not meaning to have made her jump. But she didn't wait around to see who it was, and she stretched out, grabbing her willow staff while her wings blooming out and she took flight, speeding off through the air away from whoever it was. But out of sheer curiosity, the kind that killed the cat, she circled in the air and saw something that nearly made her fall out of it again.

A human sized bunny rabbit. Stood tall on his hind legs, and walking slowly to the edge of the peak to watch her. He was tall and lithe and his fur was grey all over, bar that over his stomach, around his mouth and his feet which were white. Darker patches on his forehead and arms resembled floral patterns. But the thing that stood out most for the girl were his eyes... his bright, vibrant green eyes, and the way he watched her as she circled over the ravine, watching him carefully. She knew him, obviously, and her heart was pounding because he could see her, and she felt her mind go fuzzy and she felt like she were going to fall, plummet from the sky down to the Earth.

He felt his stomach churning as he watched the bird above the ravine. The girl he'd seen perched on the tree had blatantly not been a normal human, as she'd changed into a bird moments later, but there was something about her that just... was just... there. Aster couldn't explain it even to himself, bit there was something about her that just stood out to him... he heard it in her voice. He knew her voice, and he saw images of that grave site this morning, that was untouched, and the being he was watching soar.

For a moment, Eleanor considered flying back down to him, turning human again and confronting him, see what he had to say, but there was fear in her heart and as much as she longed to go to her friend, she felt there was something stopping her, something she couldn't face right now. She wanted to approach, but moments later something flew overheard and a giant sleigh with six bucking reindeer nearly crashed into her, and as she dove quickly out of the way, she saw the rabbit drop his face into his hands and that was it before she was off, going so high before she burst into flame and willed herself elsewhere.

It felt like she were consumed in the heat of the sun, but it was pleasant, it warmed her, and she missed it sorely when it was over, and she soared over the Welsh countryside, her voice trilling as she sang out, gliding over the treetops and diving through, skimming the branches, changing into her human form and landing with unprecedented grace, strolling quickly through the woods with her staff in hand, tapping it against trees to bring growth of moss that would provide a well needed food source come Winter.

In a week she'd grown accustomed to people not seeing her. She felt a little excluded, but there was plenty for her to be getting on with to keep her occupied, and she was happy enough plodding on for now, growing flowers in the blink of an eye and controlling the heat. Seeing Aster again, however exciting and brilliant it was, was a bit too much at this point. She couldn't remember what had happened to her in that fire, what happened after she pushed Mary out was just a blur, she remembered vaguely climbing onto the ledge and feeling the strong pull of something... something powerful... but she had no idea what she was doing or why she seemed to be a... a ghost... of course there was one explanation that seemed only blatantly too obvious, and that was that she was a ghost. But Eleanor was clinging to the hope that she was dreaming, or imagining it, or perhaps she'd inhaled one too many fumes from the fire and was just hallucinating. She'd be fine when she woke up again. She looked about, noticing how dark it was and she realised she was in for another lonely, quiet night. Dusk was setting in here, she knew, and she looked up through the tree canopy to admire the sky above. The sky was turning those hues of purple and blue that made her heart melt. It felt like every colour seemed more vivid than she could remember it ever being before, every line so detailed in the clouds that were blooming into a magenta, and she smiled at the beauty of it.

And she walked quietly, sighing as the cool air wrapped about her and she skipped through hay fields and paddled in the river, feeling something in her chest and she stopped and thought carefully. It seemed too warm in the Southern hemisphere, and she willed the sun to relent a little, and then it felt right again she knew it was Winter down there, she needed to let those keepers do their jobs. She could do that sometimes, it had taken a while and a few heat waves in the North American states, but she'd figured out how to will the sun and his heat. It fluctuated on it's own, pushed his boundaries, but she was managing to tame him. It would be good when she could relax and just feel it in her bones when something needed sorting out, and something told her that it would come to that, and she anticipated it happily.

Eleanor, despite the weight on her mind and the world on her shoulders, began enjoying herself, splashing through the water and kicking up waves, making the river flow faster and rush past her legs, making her unsteady, but she didn't mind. She was too busy having fun to notice someone was watching her, someone who had followed her from Tokyo and was standing on the banks of the river she was playing in, his mouth agape, his heart hammering away, his stomach churning so badly he swore he could have vomited.

Aster watched, his evergreen eyes wide and tracking the girl who was so vivid in his memory, the girl who died ten years ago, the girl who's grave site he visited only hours before...


	24. Chapter 24

Okay, you rabbid, terrible fangirl people! Here's the chapter where they meet again! Have at it!

And you're all going to keep hating me, I have a feeling my fangroup will turn into an angry mob with pitchforks and torches...

*runs and hides under bed*

... oh, hi Pitch ^_^

Review please!

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She was laughing, and it was simply musical, and she was having such a good time it took her a moment before she sensed somebody's presence and felt eyes on her, and she turned quickly, absolutely drenched from the water and her dress clinging to her skin, and she saw the rabbit from her childhood, and she froze, her heart skipping a beat for a moment, before thundering on. She didn't run this time, her body seemed to turn to lead... and he just watched her, and she looked at his eyes, his two mesmerising eyes, and saw the confusion and pain shining within...

He walked forward to her, treading along the banks of the river carefully before stepping in, wading out to her and stopping just short of four feet away from her, as if afraid to come closer. She saw the hesitation in his stance, saw the fear in his eyes and how his mouth twisted downwards, and his brow was furrowed as he inspected her. Neither said a word for a moment, and then slowly he took another small step towards her, and she lifted an arm slowly to drag her fingers through her hair nervously, wondering if he remembered her, if her appearance had changed so much that he wasn't sure who she was. Nora wondered if he was second guessing himself, and she wanted to tell him who she was, but her jaw seemed glued shut.

"Eleanor?" he whispered, and she nodded her head at him jerkily, tears springing to her eyes as his opened wide as saucers, and then there was a blur of movement, and Aster had her held tightly in his arms, his face buried in her neck as he mumbled things to her she could not hear, and she stayed there in shock for however long it took him to recover himself and he pulled his face away, eyes full of tears and he looked at her.

"God, I thought I lost you forever," he gasped, his hand coming up and caressing her face. "I thought you were gone..."

"I was gone?" she whispered, and he saw the confusion in her eyes and he gulped a little. "Gone where Aster?"

"It doesn't matter right now," he cried, grinning widely, "I just- how did you get here?"

Eleanor bit her lip and looked around the the river they were stood in, and up to the sky where she could see the glow of the moon rising over the horizon.

"I, Aster, I really don't know how it happened... but the moon said-"

"Whoa, whoa! The _moon_ said? As in the man in the moon? He spoke to you?"

"Yeah," she replied, looking curiously into his surprised eyes, wondering why he was so shocked. How else would she be here and be able to turn into a phoenix at will? "He said I was here to oversee Summer, it was my duty now."

"You... he gave you Summer?" Aster asked, looking dazed and happy at the same time, but somehow very sad too. She decided to change the topic, as she felt she'd only end up going over the same one fact for the next hour or so until he actually decided to listen, and she sprung an earlier question on him again.

"Where have I been?" she asked, and the bemused expression vanished from his face in an instant, and he looked sallow again.

"Nora... sunflower, it's a long story..." he said quietly, one arm still firmly around her, as if he were scared that when he let go she'd vanish again. They stared at one another for a long while, eyes connected and he took in how amazingly different she looked. Her hair was cropped short, and whereas before the tones of red and gold were quite subtle, they were now brighter and shone out from the brown. Her eyes struck him, the shape was the same as ever, but the colour was just so different... there was brown directly around the pupil, that warm chocolate colour he'd grown so accustomed to, but then it blended into golds that worked their way out to the end of the iris, the colour of the sun and brighter than anything he'd seen before. His lean body was curved over her protectively, and before he said another word to her, or she uttered another one to him, he stooped and pressed his nose against her forehead, pressed his lips against her nose, and felt her flush before he saw it.

"I missed you," he whispered, still aware she hadn't been caught up on the matter, but he would help her soon enough.

They waded back to the side of the bank, climbing up from the shallow river bed and sitting on a patch of soft, dry heather, he pulled her down into his lap, and he held her there while she cuddled up to him, nuzzling her face into his neck while he wrapped his arms around her protectively. There was silence for what seemed like the longest time, and Aster thought briefly how he'd been mourning these last ten years, but now she was here with him again, and it was almost too good to be true, and he didn't want to let himself believe in this entirely just yet, because it _could_ be too good to be true, he could be imagining. He'd wake up beside her grave and he'd have had one blissful moment with her, but she'd be gone again when he opened his eyes.

"Aster," she whispered, turning her face up to look at him, but he couldn't make eye contact with her. "Why did you miss me? What's been happening?"

Her voice was the same, he mused. It hadn't changed. She was still very softly spoken, though as always there was an underlying hardness that hinted at her being a far more fierce person than she appeared at face value. He managed at last to summon the will to look at her, and he stared deep into her confused eyes, and he had to tell her then and there what had happened.

"Flower, you've been... gone," he told her, his voice catching in his throat as he said it.

"Gone?" she asked him, her heart plummeting and her mouth dropping open.

"You... In the house fire, you remember that?" he asked, and she nodded, before biting her lip.

"It's... it's a bit fuzzy at the end. I was on the window ledge..."

"You were gone love," he said gently, holding her as she looked about in shock, not knowing what to say. There was a long pause, and Aster felt very awkward, until Eleanor took a short breath and looked back up at him, here eyes narrowed as she processed the information.

"I was gone?" she asked quietly, and Aster nodded his large head. "I was... dead?"

"Yeah..."

"You saw it? You saw it happen? Me dying," she asked, her voice turning croaky and he saw the upset sinking in. "What about Mary? I'm not bothered about myself, but is Mary okay? I got her out didn't I?"

"Mary's fine," he said quickly, raising his hand up and brushing it through her short hair, trying to soothe her. "You saved her life, sunflower... she got out safe."

At that the girl quietened again, and leaned into his embrace while she thought everything over. Slowly she raised her arms and wrapped them around Aster's neck, glad that somebody could see her, and best of all it was her Guardian from her childhood. She thought everything over, thought about the fact that she had died saving her sister, that Aster had missed her so sorely that he was now refusing to let her go again, and then she thought about the rest of her family. Her brother George who – last she knew – was missing in action from the Great War, his wife and daughter left with the terrible possibility that he might not come home... she wondered about her parents and about her sister, and while she was thinking she repositioned herself in Asters' arms. He stiffened noticeably, thinking she was going to climb off him and he didn't want her to move, but she only sat up more straight, one arm slung over his shoulder and around his neck while the other tangled in the fur on his chest.

"How long ago did I die?" she asked quietly, looking him in the eye.

"Ten years," Aster replied quickly, trying to just spit it out to soften the blow.

She didn't look too shocked though, she only cast here eyes back to the river, watching as the moon rose up and cast a silver light into the rippling water. She nodded a little, and her mouth turned into a slight small smile. It looked almost bitter sweet, and though her eyes looked sad there was a hint of a sparkle in them.

"Ten years?" she asked, looking back at him with that small smile on her face, and he nodded slowly. "And you missed me this much after ten years?" she asked, the small grin growing into something a lot bigger, and a lot cheekier.

"Course I did," Aster muttered, but he could feel himself heating up, before his ears flattened and he looked down, suddenly shame faced. "I blame myself. It was my fault. I heard you blow the whistle and I came, but when I saw what was happening I couldn't move. I saw you drop Mary from the window, and I saw you climbing from the window, and I- I shoulda moved quicker and come and got you down and kept you safe... but I didn't..."

"You would've been scared Aster, I know when I am I freeze," she said gently, stroking his cheek gently, rubbing her thumb carefully below his eye as he leaned into her touch, and she felt the damp from his tears and she moved, flinging her arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight embrace.

"I watched the house come down... I stayed and watched as they moved you, I just-"

"Stop it Aster," she said suddenly, sharply. "I'm here now, one way or the other, and you're being stupid about this," she leaned back away from him, their faces level and her nose only centimetres from his. "No offence," she added, grinning a little.

"You called me stupid! How is that not offensive?" he asked, but he smiled back too, albeit reluctantly.

"Because you know I don't mean it, stupid," she laughed, winking at him, and they both laughed a little bit, letting their old banter flow between them, and everything felt easier on them, despite what had happened to her, she didn't seem too bothered about it. The Guardian could tell she had been more concerned about her family, and he went on to assure her that everyone was okay. He explained that even after she died he carried on looking for her brother, because though he hadn't managed to save her, he wanted to do his best by her memory and find George and get him set free. He had found him too, in a German prison, and he'd left a letter with the child of a high ranking army officer to give to their father, and he'd taken action and rescued all the men who had been held captive, including her brother... and she listened intently as Aster recalled how he watched George reunited with Irene and Alice, and it had brought a tear to his eye. He confessed he felt a little better after helping her brother, but he still thought about her everyday...

And in that second, Eleanor pressed her lips against his, closing her eyes slowly and melting into his arms. Aster, at first, was shocked by the sudden action, but at the same time he felt himself relax too and he kissed her back, slowly and gently, and when they parted for air he sat stunned, unable to move as she sighed happily and pressed her forehead against his, their noses touching and she was smiling to herself. It was strange, what he felt so suddenly then. Some inner conflict was fighting it out... part of him felt amazing, he had the girl he loved in his arms, and she had kissed him and she had even confessed her love to him years ago, before she had died and he'd spent more than a decade regretting not taking her home with him then and there. He could have had her and they'd have been together. But then the conflicting side rose up...

He'd seen her grow from a child, watched her develop, bandaged her up after falls, kissed the sores better, told her stories to entice sweet dreams, scared away nightmares... they'd argued and fought and even if he had admitted his feelings those years ago, she wouldn't have had the family she so deserved, and she would have eventually grown old and died... here, now, she wouldn't grow old. She would never leave him, but it didn't change the fact that he couldn't get past seeing her grow up.

After ten years of dreaming about her when he slept and thinking about her every waking moment, he couldn't deny he was in love with the girl.

But after ten years of dreaming about her, thinking about her, loving her... he'd not protected her when he'd meant to, though she said she didn't mind she hadn't seen the turmoil it caused her family. He was meant to protect Mary too, but didn't save her from the suffering brought when she blamed herself for her sisters' death. He'd hurt her, hurt her family too much.

He loved her with every fibre of his being... but she deserved better, and slowly he pulled his head away from hers, breaking their Eskimo kiss.


	25. Chapter 25

This is specially for all my readers on Valentines Day. You actually don't realise how much I love you all, you're so encouraging and amazing and we're nearly at 130 reviews, and I couldn't have done that without you!

So please help get me to that mark, and also check out my story 'Slave to Darkness', it's about Pitch and it's a bit miserable xD aquodox, love you sweety :)

Enjoy all!

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They had both stayed quiet after he broke the kiss, she thought nothing of it, but his mind was all a state. He still held her firm in his arms, still kept her close, because there was that part of him that didn't want to let her go, didn't want to upset her again, and he knew it would... she was curled up in his lap, twisting little bits of fur on his chest then combing the knots out again with her fingers. It was relaxing, it didn't feel awkward, it was actually quite comfortable, but he felt a crushing weight on his chest. He was almost relieved when she shifted a little, got off his lap and stood up in front of him, offering her hand which he took to pull himself up too. She bent again and picked up her staff and looked at him, biting her lip.

"What now?" she asked quietly, and he shrugged a little.

"We just all try to focus on our jobs, what we need to do, how we should do it," the Pooka explained, holding Eleanor's hand and stroking the back of her hand gently. He really didn't want to let her go. He was hating himself with each passing second. "Sometimes it's best to let nature take its course though, give it some slack. You try to control everything and you'll tucker yourself out."

"Reckon so?" she asked, tapping the staff against her foot.

"You can bet your nelly on it," Aster chuckled half heartedly, and he turned away in thought, looking up to the moon before looking back at her. "Do you want to see North, Tooth and Sandy? They were wonderin' what all the fuss was this morning when Mani told them about you."

"They know it's me?" the girl asked, incredulously, as she hadn't expected news to travel so fast. Aster had seemed to know it was her, however tentatively he did approach her. But North, Tooth and Sandy hadn't seen her half as often... unless aster had told them.

"They don't know anything other than the fact that there's a Summer spirit. Honestly, I think they'll be quite surprised," he added with a chuckle, and she shook her head at him slightly, but she smiled too.

"Do they think I'm dead and gone too?" she asked, almost indifferently, and it made Aster squeeze his eyes shut at the thought of it. Of course they did, he had too, and for all intents and purposes she was... which was a grim thought. As she was here, she was just a spirit, like most of their kind were. In the rare case, they'd still inhabit their own body... Tooth was an example of that, since she'd been born to a Goddess, she was in the body she'd had since birth. He was too, being the last Pooka alive. But he was never sure about North, as the old man hadn't gone into his past all that much, and he was almost certain Sandy wasn't what he used to be... but he never talked about anything, and deducing his own special version of sign language sometimes made his head hurt, so he hadn't bothered asking.

However, while he'd been thinking about this whole dilemma, Eleanor had been reading his expression, and the troubled look in his eye told her all she needed to know, so with a gentle touch to his arm she caught his attention and shrugged and gave him that look that told him she knew already from his silence.

"Sorry," he muttered, half apologetically, half comfortingly, but she only smiled at him.

"Don't be, we haven't got time to be sorry," she laughed, and he rolled his eyes because on the contrary they had all the time in the world to do something. "But before we do anything I just need to go and get things sorted properly in America... come with me?" she asked, and the rabbit nodded his head, standing straighter as she passed him the staff and he dropped it again. He hadn't expected it to be so damn hot! It was like there was fire in it, and she stood, shocked.

"Are you okay?" she asked quickly, but stooped and grabbed the staff too, holding it and weighing it in her hands carefully.

"That things bloody roasting!" he cried, rubbing his hands together to try and stop the sting. It was like he'd just put his hand in a fire, it hurt that badly... Eleanor was warm, but not that warm, it was like she channelled her energy into the stick, and he'd be damned if he touched that again. She only laughed at him, her golden eyes twinkling as she did, and then she looked thoughtful.

"I don't suppose you want to travel my way then?" she asked, smiling slyly at him, and he looked at her, aghast.

"Look I'm no chook but I don't fancy burning to a crisp, yeah?" he laughed nervously, and she only shook her head at him, grinning all the while.

"Then where should we meet?" she asked, and he smiled at her, taking a few steps forward and pulling her into another hug, quite reluctant to part with her now after finding her after ten years. He still wasn't sure of himself... he knew he loved the girl, knew she had feelings for him too, but on some subconscious level he couldn't see him having a relationship with her because he'd seen her grow, seen her turn into a beautiful young woman and then lost her when he was coming to terms with how he felt. Something in the back of his mind was scared of losing her again... he'd only just gotten her back.

It was something he needed to talk to North about, as for some reason though there was competition between the two of them over their holidays, they could open up to one another like the old friends they were. It was why he was thankful he had the other Guardians to be honest, before the moon chose him he'd been quite a loner.

"Meet me at the North Pole, okay sunflower?"

"Okay, see you there," she smiled, extracting herself from his arms and grinning. Before him she burst into flame, and off into the air went a phoenix before that too burst into flame and in a shower of sparks and ashes and he felt his heart tug a little. Non-the-less, he tapped a foot on the floor and jumped down, surfacing inside the workshop at the North Pole and leaping right away for the fire, smiling at the warmth of it as the place seemed so bitterly cold. He decided to keep up pretences in front of the other Guardians. There was no need to inform them that the new spirit was Eleanor, although he knew they'd find out pretty soon. Also, grudgingly, he decided against expressing his feelings about her... best doing that in private.

"Bunny!" he heard a cry from behind him, and he turned his head, still planted with his bottom on the floor and his large feet in front of the fire. North was beaming at him, striding over with a spring in his step and he took the large armchair beside the Pooka and settled himself in. "So you find the new spirit, yes?"

"Yeah mate, I found her," Aster nodded, rubbing his feet, trying to keep the warmth there and keep his circulation going.

"Is interesting having new spirit now..." the older man mused, and Aster nodded his head, smiling to himself. "What is she like then?" he asked, and at that Aster stopped rubbing his feet and turned to smile at North.

"You'll find out, she'll be here soon," he chuckled, and North looked astounded before he jumped up, looking ready to bounce around. It amazed the rabbit at how youthful North could be, when he looked so old. But being blessed with eternal life could do that to you, there were some days he had to sprint around the Warren before he felt less twitchy.

"Dingle!" the great man bellowed, and about ten of his stupid elves ran in, each grinning like fools as they tried to figure out which one he was actually talking to. North simply bent and picked one up by the point of his hat, looked at him sternly, scrutinising him, before he nodded and decided he would do, and sent the others packing.

"You go get cookies, don't eat any, we have guests coming."

The elf nodded, and North dropped him to the ground, watched him bounce once, then scurry away in a daze. The rabbit laughed loudly, because as cruel as North could be with them sometimes, the elves just never seemed to care. They'd bounce away and run into things and act more stupid than anything he'd ever seen before, but they were funny little guys.

"When will she get here?" North asked, turning back to Aster with his tattooed arms folded, but there was a twinkle in his eye that changed what could be a menacing look into a cheerful one. The Russian would only ever come off as menacing if he needed to be. The guy was like that.

"Whenever she turns up, why?" the rabbit asked, leaning back on his elbows and relaxing.

"Just asking... you know, I think this new girl must be very nice," the bearded man mused, and he walked slowly to his armchair and sat down in it heavily. This time Aster heard the chair groan under North's weight, and he shook his head slightly... if the guy didn't enjoy his cookies so much he might be a bit less rotund.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, taking a cookie from the tray the elf had just run in with and biting into it.

"You're smiling now, so she must be really special."

Aster nearly choked on his cookie, sitting up and spluttering on it before he felt a huge hand collide with his back and he nearly went head over heels into the fire. Luckily he didn't though, and his coughing subsided but now his back hurt like hell.

"Crikey North, try not to break my spine next time," he gasped, clutching his throat and coughing a little, clearing the crumbs left there that still scratched at his neck and made him feel ill.

"But you are not choking now, so it is okay," the older man chuckled, and though Aster seethed a little, but couldn't argue with the logic.

Not another word was said then, because the door burst open and both boys looked around expecting the new keeper, but Tooth was there instead, breathless.

"My- my fairies," she started, but she was too out of breath and immediately North was on his feet and guiding the woman to the chair, while Aster took her hand and patted it comfortingly.

"Calm down Sheila, you're in a state," he chuckled, and she shot him an exasperated look before taking a very deep breath in, before breathing out again slowly. She repeated the action a few times, closed her eyes as if meditating, then she opened them again and smiled broadly.

"Right, now talk," North said, smiling warmly at the woman, blue eyes twinkling.

"My fairies told me they saw a phoenix heading up here, so I came right away! Are they here already?"

"No, not that we know of," North said quietly, and he looked at Aster with excitement in his eyes. "Bunny said she is very nice, didn't you?"

"Oh! She must be special then, normally you're so critical of people," Tooth said gently, and it was almost like a backhanded compliment. He didn't know weather or not to agree or to get upset by it. The more he thought about it, getting upset would only prove her point, so he stayed quiet.

"You'll like her Tooth, and I know she'll like you," he smiled, and Tooth looked at him with curiosity in her eyes, her mouth dropping into a small 'o' shape to show she was wondering how he could possibly know that. But then there was a sound at the door and in swooped Sandy, looking ever so excited as a golden red bird flew in after him. Aster watched as she did a circle around the room before taking perch on the back of the armchair. Tooth was staring in awe, her eyes looking the bird over, taking in the shimmering plumage and her feathered ruffled a bit, and the Pooka sensed a little jealousy, though she remained outwardly curious and her body language was relaxed. It was probably something subconscious she wasn't aware of.

North looked as if he were about to burst with glee. The older man was holding his breath, bright blue eyes darting to each of their faces and then back to the bird perched on the chair, who hummed at them all, and North chortled as he took a tentative step forward, reaching out and touching the soft feathers on the back of her neck with the back of his hand, and he whistled, impressed.

"They're very warm! Almost like fire!" he exclaimed, and Sandy nodded his head in agreement, obviously as they were travelling in together he must have tried the same. It wasn't often you saw a bird so exotic, and they all seemed entranced, all seemed to be waiting on baited breath, and while Tooth wrung her hands, Sandy floated in the air on his tiptoes, and North stroked his beard in thought and anticipation, Aster merely grinned, turning to Eleanor and nodding his head.

"Go on then."


	26. Chapter 26

Hi guys! Right, quick important message for people who know I update quite regularly... I'm going away for a week to my mums, who I haven't seen or talked to since Christmas, and whose house I haven't stayed at since July last year. So naturally I'm a little excited! Problem is they don't technically have a computer there, and my laptop committed suicide, which was depressing, and I therefore cannot write or update more chapters for a week.

So that means I won't be posting for a week. I'll have my mobile, so I'll be able to PM if you ever feel the need, and I'll be happy to reply. Other than that there will be no updates to either of my Rise of the Guardians fics, which is this one, and 'Slave to Darkness'.

Other than that news, there's nothing new to report :) I hope you enjoy the chapter, please leave a review!

And check out the other fic too, I think you'll like it :D

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The Guardians watched as the bird before them burst into flame and while Tooth shrieked in surprise and Sandy toppled backwards and out of the air, landing with a thump on the ground, North and Aster watched on. Aster, however, was the only one unsurprised when the figure of a girl emerged from the flames and landed softly on the cushions of the armchair below, beaming up at them all and trying to suppress a giggle of happiness.

Sandy didn't manage to pick himself up off the floor, and only stared in astonishment as he was the first to recognise the girl. After a moment to let it sink in, sand images conjured above his head in rapid succession, each flitting away to be replaced by a new one barely a second later. Aster watched as the small golden man hopped up and down, and managed to pick out a few of his symbols; a flame, the sun, the moon, an aeroplane. He must have been indicating the fire that killed her in the war, but none of the images were in any particular order and he leaned over to put a hand on the oldest Guardians' shoulder.

"Calm it, Sandy," he said quietly, and though the short man did stop his silent raving, he looked a little peeved with the Pooka, and a stream of sand erupted from both of his ears, showing him so.

Tooth was the second to realise who it was, and she was far from angry. Instead the girl screamed out in shock, swooping down on Eleanor and pulling her into a hug, gabbering on about something or other while hugging her so tight she cut off most air supply. Eleanor could only so much as hug the Fairy, pat her on the back and mumble that it was okay, while Tooth's whole body shook with surprise and shock, and for a moment Aster wondered if she'd be okay. No sooner did he move to check on the Fairy did she back away, beaming at Eleanor and saying how much she'd been missed and how they were all so glad she was back. Eventually, North stood forward.

His bright blue eyes scanned over the girl, and she looked back up at the Russian with glittering golden-brown eyes, fixing him with a look that was full of warmth and happiness and love. It didn't take long for the Russian man to realise who she was, and he chuckled a little before stooping and pulling her into a large hug, holding her like he had done those twelve years ago when it was her fifteenth birthday, and she first met him. There was still so much tenderness about him, he was like a huge teddy bear, and she hugged him back, wrapping her arms around his neck like a child. She heard him cough a little and he placed her back down, wiping a stray tear from his eye and she felt her heart swell. They really had missed her, and she moved forward, reached her arm up and wiped his eyes gently with her thumb, and he beamed down at her.

"Welcome back," he choked a little, and Eleanor felt her heart swell as she saw how much it made the lot of them happy to see her. When they had been her Guardians, when she was alive and well, she'd sometimes thought that working to protect the children of the world was something they just had to do, whereas their main job was to bring Christmas, Easter, dreams and memories to people. She'd thought it would be very much like what her job was like when she was alive. It was repetitive, drawl, and she didn't much care for it though it didn't bother her that she had to do it. Being a seamstress in a factory wasn't exactly going to be the highlight of any young womans' career. But seeing North in tears now, how Sandy had been so surprised, how Tooth had screamed in joy and how Aster had held her like he didn't want to let her go again... she realised that they loved what they did, they loved the children, and she felt rather sheepish now because she'd ever doubted what they did.

"Thank you," she replied, feeling herself tear up before she launched herself into the older man's arms again and hugged him tight, which he returned happily. Then it turned into a pile on, Tooth joining the embrace, then Sandy, and they eventually managed to coax Aster in, though it was more forceful persuasion from North who grabbed the rabbit by the scruff of his neck and pulled him into the throng.

"I didn't know you'd all missed me that much," she said when they eventually broke apart and she was able to look at them all properly. Tooth was examining her dress with a thoughtful look while the men only smiled a little and nodded.

"You were a special one," North informed her, his blue eyes shining brighter than she'd seen before, and he seemed renewed with excitement and joy. "Of course we missed you! But no problem now you are here..."

he trailed off, looking incredibly thoughtful, and the younger girl looked up at him questioningly as he seemed to study her a little and he sighed.

"What are you here for?"

Eleanor blinked up at him, not knowing what to say exactly while he started pacing a little, eyes never leaving her face. Tooth slapped his arm gently as he passed by her, telling him that it sounded rude and he should apologise, but the new spirit assured her it was okay, she didn't mind. It didn't sound rude in her opinion, it just sounded genuinely curious and she could understand why he asked because she had been dead for ten years and now she'd just appeared on the scene again. It made her wonder why the man in the moon had chosen her to come back and not somebody else, wondered what made him single her out and really... what made her so special?

"I don't know..." she muttered eventually as she felt every pair of eyes scrutinising her. "I just woke up in a poppy field in France and the moon told me I was to oversee Summer from here on in."

"Summer!" North asked, his voice bellowing but he had the largest smile suddenly spread across his face, his features lighting up, cheeks looking rosier, eyes brightening, and his whole body seemed to relax. "Is good! We need good Summers, right Toothy?"

"It's been really bad these last ten years, Nora," Tooth explained, then something seemed to twig in her, instead of explaining herself further, she gaped at the new spirit, looking her up and down. "You... you died ten years ago..."

"Yeah, we all know that Tooth," Aster chipped in, resting on his haunches as Tooth flustered over whatever problem she had in her mind.

"Yes Bunny, but she died ten years ago!" she exclaimed again, looking up to North who rubbed his chin slightly and shrugged.

"I don't think you need to remind us, is a bad enough thing to have to do, thinking about it is only worse," the older man tried to reason, and the Fairy let out a strangled and garbled string of words, before turning back to Nora, eyes pleading with her to understand.

"You died ten years ago," she said once again, and Nora nodded along, although it was the third time she'd heard the woman say this now. "Summer stopped coming ten years ago..."

Realisation dawned on each of their faces, Nora probably more so than the others, because she hadn't even thought to make the connection herself, as it hadn't ever even seemed like something that would be a possibility. Now she was stood there with this thought above her, she felt her mind racing. If she was, in essence, always the spirit of Summer, what had Summer's before her birth been like? Had they been cold and drab or had she been a spirit before her birth and brought back into the world? Had her soul travelled through every generation in every era and seen a thousand lives... lived a thousand lives, before she was taken back into the spirit world? Had the moon planned this all along? She remembered the foreboding sense she felt when she left the house that night to celebrate Christmas, how the moon had seemed colder and how she felt the wind pulling at her, her hands freezing as something, someone, took hold of them to try and make her go home. If she'd followed her gut instinct she would have heard the sirens ring out over London, she would have been able to make it to the bomb shelter with her family and Roger before the assault started, and she knew the shelter itself hadn't been damaged, just the house. Did the moon know there was going to be a raid, or Jack? And he tried to stop her, Jack tried to save her life... he was there that night...

"Why did I only wake up ten years later?" she asked in a whisper, looking up to the Guardians who looked as shocked as she felt, who at this revelation of what she was now and what had happened since her death saw the connections that had been there all along. Tooth bit her lip, shrugging, Aster looked dumbfounded and Sandy could only nudge North's shoulder, indicating he say something.

"Maybe... you were meant to be spirit... but you died too early?" he suggested, and this only seemed to make her upset.

Was there a right time to die young? If there had been a ten year gap does that mean she was really meant to die at age twenty seven? When she could have a husband a children? Was she really to think that the moon had planned this all so intricately so at that moment those few weeks ago when she awoke amidst the poppies was when she would've woken anyway? If so... then she was meant to die all along. It hurt her, made her chest clench as she stormed past the Guardians and out into the main workshop was, looking up to see the moon shining down and casting the silvery light over the globe, where millions of flickering lights shone. She had been one of those lights...

"What did you do this for?" she shouted, fixing the moon with her eyes. She stared hard, willing something to happen, willing for him to communicate with her, but it didn't seem like he would. His silvery light remained the same, no words whispered in her ear, and after a good ten minutes of having a hard – one sided – staring match, she felt a hand land gently on her shoulder, and she turned to see Aster who shook his head slightly.

"He doesn't tell you why, you need to figure that out... we all did," he explained gently, but she was far too upset. As tears poured down her face she flung his hand from her shoulder.

"So there's a reason I died in war time? A reason my family had to watch as I was killed? I was the one who had to go running to get Mary, and there was a purpose to me getting her out of that house first? Is there a reason to me being left here to figure things out, to sort out a season the world is literally dependant on? I can't figure it out, and I don't see why I should have to! I had a family, and a home and I liked it!" she cried, rushing past him and grabbing her staff which she'd left by the armchair. She moved back into the main room, looking up at the brightest light she could see, one shining in England, and she sighed.

"Do they get brighter the older they are?" she asked, her voice a lot calmer, though tears still made a steady stream down her face.

"Usually... the longer they believe, the brighter it gets... but also depends on how strong belief is," North explained gently, and she looked at that light, vaguely listening to his words as he continued. "Yours used to be brightest light of all... since then has been-" and he stopped, because of the looks Tooth and Aster gave him. She didn't need him to tell her, she already knew. There was only one person, in the South of England, who would be old enough to make the light shine that bright, and she had to see if it was them. Aster seemed to sense this, and reached forward, grabbing her arm and holding her still.

"You don't wanna do that, sunflower," he said firmly, but in a sympathetic tone. "You'll only upset yourself."

"So is it her?" she snapped, and the Pooka paused, before his jaw clenched. That was all she needed to know, and she pulled away from him quickly.

Before the rabbit or one of the other Guardians had chance to grab her and stop her, before Tooth could catch up with her or Sandy could put her to sleep until she'd calmed down, she'd burst into flames, taking the rest of them by surprise and she swooped in her phoenix form upwards above the globe, before sending sparks and ashes tumbling everywhere as she disappeared.


	27. Chapter 27

So I went through a lot of trouble to get this chapter.

Firstly, I found a computer in my mums house that kind of works, and on the off chance that I did find a computer I brought a dongle with me (internet do-hickey) and I managed to connect it all up, so I have the internet!

Secondly I found I had the small issue that I didn't have my pendrive with me, so I had to phone my uncle who has keys to my house, explain to him where to find the pendrive, which document I needed and tell him what my email address was, just for this one chapter. That took all of an hour. It took longer to get the chapter than I think it did to write it.

So I really hope you all like it, but I'm afraid I won't be able to get another chapter, or else I'll probably die. I can't go through that process again.

This chapter sees the return of an old friend, and we can all love him a little bit more, and awwwww :3 I think it's cute and sad, but then I wrote it so I would, haha xD

Anyways, enjoy! And please review.

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She burst through the flame and soared over the treetops of her home town, circling lower and lower until she could change and land safely on the soft ground. The Summer air was sweet and crisp and she followed the paths through the wood that she knew so well, had known all her life. Her feet seemed to move of their own accord, and she felt her staff behind her back, balancing the weight across her coccyx while her arms held onto either end, keeping it firmly behind her but ready for her to bring out and into action, and she moved closer and closer to the edge of the tree line, where she knew she would look down on where she had lived but ten years before.

When she reached the end of the path though, when she found herself looking over the street she had grown up in, she saw no house where she had lived. She didn't see the fence surrounding their back yard, hastily knocked together by her father one Spring when Geese chased herself and George from the woods, there was no vegetable patch where she'd pulled some carrots up for Aster, or the bomb shelter her and her family had taken refuge in so many times... There was no house. No home she had known. There was nothing left that could have reminded anyone there was a family there. She walked down slowly to that plot of land, the dirt and the weeds overgrown... she stood where she knew the living room would be, walked barely ten feet and she would have been in the kitchen. Directly above her should have been her bedroom, and walking towards the front of the plot... this was where she had thrown Mary down, sent her to safety, and this is where she died, and this is where her body was pulled from the rubble.

But where were her parents? Had Mary left London, or did she still live nearby? Was George around here now with his wife Irene and little Alice... well, not so little any more. Did they have other children after her death?

Her mind even strayed briefly to Martin Dingle, her poor amputee friend whom she'd left in fear he wouldn't let go of her and carry on with his life. How had he recovered? Did he now have a family?

She looked down the street where the Dingle household was but seven houses away, but then he golden eyes strayed back to the wasted land before her. She felt pain build within her, and she pulled her staff from behind her back and swiped it furiously at the overgrowth, screaming out and then watching in shock as the weeds fell back, wilted away and dried up and died, in a matter of seconds. She repeated the sweeping action until absolutely all the weeds were gone, and then she walked along, tapping the staff on the floor gently in random places, and flowers bloomed. Roses, tulips, carnations, such a wide variety she couldn't possibly have listen them all, they just seemed to flow from her. Then she stopped, and looked at the flower garden as large as a house and hummed a little, before treading exceptionally lightly and tapping the ground once more, right in the centre of the plot. Up it grew, higher and higher, past her shoulders and her head, and the leaved bloomed outwards so rapidly it was like watching something in fast forward. It stood roughly ten feet tall, straight and strong and bending only slightly in the breeze.

A sunflower, showing she had been here, and she had not forgotten anyone.

She took a moment to admire her work, then she turned and walked down the street, a little of the spring in her step had returned, the colour flushed back to her cheeks, lighting her face up, and she simply let herself into the house through the open door and saw exactly the person she wanted to see.

If anything, growing up had done wonders on Martin.

She remembered the last time she saw him, how he looked dishevelled and his leg was nothing more than a stump, how he had that wild glint in his eye and had cried into her shoulder that he should have died with his friends. Now he sat in a wheelchair, prosthetic leg attached where his leg should have been. He was straight-backed and had a knowing twinkle in those grey eyes like he'd always had. His hair was neatly combed, and around him sat three young children who had the same grey eyes, and Eleanor felt her heart melt at the sight of them, and she felt so, so happy that Martin had found himself a young woman who loved him and could give him a family.

"Darling, would you like a cup of tea?" a woman called from the kitchen, and he responded with a soft chuckle and a yes. Tea one sugar, if you please. Eleanor sat in the corner of the room on a small stool and watched as moments later his beautiful wife brought him the cup and saucer and set them on the table, and as she went to move back to the kitchen to start dinner he caught her around the waist, pulled her down into his lap and kissed her lovingly. It was one of the nicest things she'd seen in a long while, and she was so busy watching how this boy had grown that she didn't notice the great brown dog approaching her, until it barked right beside her.

"Oh!" she cried, jumping from the stool and skipping lightly over two steps, but the lab followed her, barking and growling, and she tried to shush him but the family were already watching.

"Digger, down!" Martin called, but the dog was fixated on her, and didn't listen to his master, which annoyed Martin slightly, because it was making an awful sound now. "Down boy!"

"Shush, please, be quiet!" she pleaded with the animal, but it didn't listen, diving for her and she only narrowly escaped the clutches of it's jaws by lifting her staff and using it to block the dogs advances. Martin had uprooted his wife from his lap, wheeled himself over and grabbed the dog by the collar before pulling him alongside the chair and tossing him out into the back yard.

"Bleeding dogs," he muttered, turning suddenly and wheeling himself through Eleanor, which took the both of them by surprise... Eleanor felt that familiar sense of her stomach dropping, but Martin felt an intense heat coarse through his body like nothing he'd felt before. He could have drank a bottle of whiskey and never felt that warm. He turned his head and looked right at her... or right through her, more appropriately. He kept his gaze focused on the spot she was standing in though, he didn't look elsewhere in the room, but he shrugged and went on with his business.

She hung around as they all ate their dinner and the children played with their father while his wife washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Then she followed him as he tucked the children into bed, telling them the sweetest tale about a young heroine who saved a little princess from a dragon, and he wheeled himself back through to the living room, looking about. All night she'd seen him casting glances in her general direction, like he felt her presence, and that only excited her a little, because if she could get him to see her or hear her, then she was on the way to finding her family.

His beautiful young wife curled up on the couch and asked him to join her, so he heaved himself with a little difficulty out of his chair and over to the couch, sitting beside the woman and pulling her into a warm embrace, kissing her atop her head while the radio played in the background.

She wanted that, she thought to herself... not Martin, she chuckled slightly, she'd never wanted Martin, though he had been a good friend. No, she wanted to have a family like that... and with a sinking feeling she remembered how own and why she was here. Standing from her seat in the corner of the room she wandered around, noticing the half dead orchid on the coffee table, she bent over it, touched it gently with her fingertips and the dusty grey colour slowly restored itself to that bright white, the shrivelling leaves uncurled, opened up and turned that deep, dark green that for a second she was reminded of Asters' eyes, but she shook herself and went back on the search for a pen and paper.

There was some paper on the side table, and a pen not long away, but in her current state she couldn't pick them up without people seeing floating paper and a pen, and it made her crumble in frustration. Then she remembered the dog, and she had the fleeting but brilliant idea of involving him on her plans. Good old Digger.

Eleanor went through the window again, as she couldn't well open the door or it would scare the poor people, and she found herself in the back yard and the pooch spotted her, barking instantly and running up to her, but she stood firmly with her hands on her hips and she glared down at him.

"Now listen you," the girl snapped, and it caught the dog by surprise, and his yapping stopped. "You're going to be good, you hear?"

He cocked his shaggy chocolate coloured head to the side, eyes narrowing as if he were considering her, and he yapped a little more gently then, his tail wagging slightly from side to side and he approached her slowly, sniffing her bare feet and the hem of her dress, before jumping up at her. And his paws landed firmly on her chest, and she gasped, because she hadn't expected him to be able to touch her, but he could... and with a sigh Eleanor hugged his head, let him lick her face and held onto him, happy for the contact she so rarely received when she was out and about. She'd tried walking down the streets of America in these last few weeks, and had people walk through her, sending a chill down her spine. But animals... she'd noticed birds looking at her before, cats would hiss, dogs would yap. They'd never touched her though, except now.

"You beautiful boy," she cooed, scratching the animal behind his ears while he whined, tongue lolling out of his mouth, "can you help me, eh? Think you can?"

He barked in response, and she took it for a yes. They understood her better now too.

"I need you to get your daddy to let you in, can you do that?"

He barked again, and she let out a happy giggle, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet.

"Okay, when I go in you bark, don't stop, okay?"

And he jumped down and turned in a circle, tail wagging furiously. She'd made a friend.

And she dived back through the window, and she watched as Martin's wife left for bed, and right on cue, the dog began to bark, loud and non stop. Martin sighed before he muttered to himself about letting the dog back in. He seemed to know he wouldn't give up. So he heaved himself back into his chair, rolled to the door – through her again, and while she shivered from the cold she felt, he felt that warmth again, though he carried on with only a small frown on his face – and the dog came bounding through the door when it was open, jumping up at her again, but she shook her head no and pointed to the paper.

"Give it to him, go on, fetch!" she laughed, and the dog did as he was told, jumping onto the table with his front paws and scrabbling to get the writing pad in his jaws, before taking it to Martin (who looked shell shocked) and dropping it in his lap. "Now the pen," Nora urged, and this time the dog had difficulty, not being able to take the small item in his mouth. He knocked it onto the floor, and pawed at it, his gaze shifting between her and Martin, and he moaned slightly. Martin looked where Digger would look, in her direction, and looked back at his dog. He was obviously perplexed, but slowly, ever so slowly, he wheeled himself forward, pushed Digger away and picked up the pen. Eleanor felt her heart soar as he had hold of both the pad and the pen, but then he went to put them down, and her stomach dropped.

"No..." she moaned, and then Digger stopped Martin in what he was doing, barking and growling angrily, taking both the man and the spirit by surprise. The ferocity the dog displayed made Martin retract his hands, keeping the items with him in his lap, and immediately Digger stopped growling, and lay down submissively as if nothing at all had happened.

"Is everything okay with Digger, darling?" his wife called gently, her voice at the door, and Eleanor felt herself freeze, knowing if they were disturbed now then Martin would just pass it off as strange behaviour and go to bed to dwell on it.

"It's fine love, he's just excited," the man called back, and his voice was smooth and his words calculated. "I'm just going to put him in the kitchen."

"Okay then," she replied, and she left for bed again, and a small sigh emitted from his lips.

"What's this about?" he asked the dog, as if he would understand, but he only cocked his head again, and lay there. Eleanor however moved around the room from where she had been standing, and she focused all her energy on doing something. She felt if he believed she was there, he'd be able to feel her, and she could get him to help her. When she was younger she'd believed in Jack Frost, and he'd been able to touch her, even slightly. His cold had wrapped around her and he'd influenced her movements that way.

So she tried the same, touching his hand lightly, and though she received those same terrible chills, he gasped at the warmth, and his hand flinched away. Digger growled again, warning Martin, and he looked slowly at the dog, and then to his hand, which he returned to its original place and left it there, pen poised. The spirit tried again, touching his hand lightly and shifting her warmth to the left. His hand followed, and his eyes followed his hand, mouth agape, startled and amazed by what was happening. Slowly, laboriously she managed to get him to write one sentence from her, and with a huff she sat down beside him, perched on the couch as he read it again and again, trying to wrap his mind around it.

'_I need you to help me_.'

He looked up and around the room, eyes wide.

"Hello?" he whispered, and she chuckled, folding her arms in her lap.

"Martin, you can't see or hear me, so there's no point in trying to strike up a conversation," she replied, her voice light and cheerful. He looked around, his eyes disappointed as if he expected something fantastic to happen, but it didn't. Instead he looked back down at the pad in his lap and he nodded slowly.

"I'll do my best to help you," he said quietly, and with a whoop she stood back up again, reaching over and taking his hand again, directing it through the letters to make words, words into sentences. She sat back down again when she was finished, examining his face, his eyebrows knotting in confusion as he took in the latest sentence, hand reaching up and scratching his chin as he tried to make sense of it.

'_I need you to tell me where my family is._'

"I... well I'll need to know who you are to tell you that," he muttered, more to himself than to her, and she realised this too, and smacked herself on the head. That was something she hadn't considered, because she hadn't actually planned this out too well. She just wanted to find them. Again, she reached forward and took his hand, but she paused...

Was this really worth it? Doing this could possibly cause uproar, and she didn't want that. The last thing she wanted was Martin telling everyone her spirit had visited him, but what else could she do? She needed to know how they all were, needed to see them for herself, though Aster had told her they were all good and well, but she didn't know for sure. She wanted to see them this time, one final time if that was all it was, because she wanted so desperately to say goodbye.

Her hand moved his, and slowly she wrote out her name – '_Eleanor_.'

She jumped away as his hand dropped the pen and flew to his mouth, clamping it there to stop himself crying out in shock or horror. His eyes immediately clouded with tears and he choked out a little, looked about to Digger, following the dogs eyes to where she was on the couch, and his eyes fixed there, as if he could sense her, and she felt her breath catch a little.

"Oh-oh..." he moaned a little, a stray tear running down his face. "Is it really you?" he choked, and she couldn't think of a better way to respond than to lean forward and brush that one tear away, touched that he felt like this for her. He felt her touch, felt her brush his cheek, and his fingers reached up where they would have touched her fingers had he been able to. But his hand went through hers, instead he was touching the skin she had touched briefly, and he coughed a little, turning back to the paper and chuckling a little, bitterly. "I... can't believe it..."

She stayed still for a small while, wondering if she should do anything, what she could write for him... nothing came to mind, and she felt helpless for a moment.

"Connor Street," he said finally. "They're all on Conner Street... wanted to stay close after you... after you left."

She smiled slightly, and wrapped her arms about him, ignoring the shivers she felt and he smiled at the warmth, closing his eyes slowly.

"We've all missed you," he whispered, and she rested her head on his shoulder, listening as he spoke. "You were the greatest hero we all knew. We went abroad to face an invisible enemy, but you ran right into that building for Mary. Everyone loves you..."

"Thank you," she whispered, though her words went unheard, appreciating his honesty and she stood, leaving for the open window, and without another word he went to his room, got in bed, and held his wife close. He might have loved Eleanor a long time ago, he still loved her a little now, but nothing compared to the woman beside him, and he fell asleep on that thought.


	28. Chapter 28

HELLO MY PRETTIES!

I managed to convince my uncle to send another chapter to me, and in return I must bake him a cake when I get home.

While I've been at my mums I've managed to hand write up to chapter 42, so I'm an extra... I dunno seven to ten chapters up from where I was. I dunno.

I just watched Australia with Hugh Jackman in it, and I could only hear Aster. So when he said 'give him a fucking drink' I was like *muppet arm flail*. It was terrible, but oh, SO amazing.

This is a **SAD CHAPTER** guys. I do that in bold to highlight that face. Happy days. Enjoy.

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It wasn't a long walk to Connor Street, probably about ten minutes, and though she was excited to see her family and see how they were doing, she felt apprehensive too. She knew they were all okay, as Aster had told her and she knew he wouldn't lie to her face about her family when he knew how much they meant to her, but at the same time is scared her because it had been a whole ten years, and her little sister would now look physically older than her, her niece would be moving into her pre-teens, her parents would have become older and perhaps even started going grey... It scared her to know that they'd all carried on, and she was left eternally seventeen and alone and... forgotten?

She walked along the street, jumping the cracks in the pavements and tapping her stick along them to make little flowers grow through, and she sighed as she looked up at the sky, at the moon, and they shared a moment, just a brief second of sadness. She resented him for changing her, making her into a spirit and leaving her alone in the world, but she realised that he was alone too, and had been for many a year, and she pushed her own feelings down and carried on up the street, looking at houses and wondering which might be her families.

There was one in particular that stood out to her, and she grasped at her chest as she looked over the front garden.

There was a small child, a young girl probably about eleven, with beautiful blond hair and the loveliest hazel eyes. She was tending to a flower bed at the front, ever so quiet and immersed in her own little world, and when she stood up she smiled, looking directly at the head of a sunflower that was as tall as she.

"Alice, come in darling!" a woman shouted from through the open front door, and with a wrench Eleanor recognised it as Irene's, and her feet pulled her forward, her body slumping slightly but staying upright and she made her way over to the house. She felt ill though, her movements lurching and her head spinning and her vision seemed to blur as she trod up the path slowly and made her way through the door, looking into the room and sinking to her knees.

Everyone was here... There were champagne flutes on the table and the liquid bubbled up in it. There was a small cake and a picture on the table too, simple, black and white, very blurry but adorable none-the-less...

It was of her, around fifteen years old with Mary hugging onto her and her big brother George with an arm slung around her shoulders. Everyone in the picture was smiling. Nobody in the room was.

She noticed first her parents, her father holding her mother around her waist and they were looking down at the picture. There didn't seem to be any emotion in their faces, slowly starting to wrinkle with time and age and the two of them looked a little greyer – their hair was far lighter than she remembered, and while her mothers seemed to be going a graceful blonde, streaks through the brown, her fathered had a peppered look through his. The brown was obvious, and Eleanor could just about make out the reds and the blond had turned silver. His eyes were bright as ever, and they were exhibiting such happiness as he looked down into her face in the picture, like he was remembering the happy times and the good memories they had, whereas her mother had dull eyes, shining only with the tears that had gathered and were currently spilling over to run down her cheeks. They looked so tired...

George was now in his early thirties, and handsome as he'd ever been. She smiled bitterly, looking into his face and remembering their Easter egg hunts and their fights and how he'd always stuck up for her. His eyes were smiling too, though his face stayed solemn and his figure tense. His arms were crossed and in the folds Eleanor could make out an old tattered book, the edges burnt and singed and she remembered it as vividly as she could the day she got it. It was her scrap book about the Guardians... the one he'd made for her and presented her when she was fifteen, and she wondered briefly if there had been much else to salvage from the house. Knowing how badly it had burned, knowing she died in it's collapse... did they have much else from her?

Her eyes scanned briefly over Irene, who looked surprisingly the same though her stomach was swollen with child and she was rubbing a hand across it soothingly. Alice stood beside her mother, the younger image of her, besides her eyes which were her fathers'.

The person who took her most by surprise was Mary, who was sat at the table, tears streaming from her face and her hands resting on the small swell of her stomach. She too was pregnant, but Eleanor saw no father beside her, holding her hand, no young man to take care of her little sister and their little child. But Mary... oh, how she'd grown... she was a beautiful young woman now, long brown hair, bright eyes, slight frame. She was the first to reach into the centre of the table and lift her glass of water up, obviously not drinking for the babies sake. Irene and Alice acted likewise, lifting their glasses of water up, whereas George and her parents lifted champagne in the air. There was one glass left, one simple flute, and slowly George reached over and took the bottle, pouring it into the glass until it was full.

He raised his glass up in their air first, sounding the round, and every other member of her small family copied, raising their glasses up in the air, raising them to her...

"To Eleanor," they chimed, and then they drank. The date hit her then, and she shuddered before tears cascaded down her cheeks, and she sobbed in the corner as George was the first to lower her glass and look down at her photo again, his eyes sad this time.

"Happy Birthday."


	29. Chapter 29

My uncle actually brought the pendrive to me here in Barnoldswick, on his way to the Lake District! How awesome is he?! So I can post again. Enjoy, my pretties!

Also, sorry about the sad chapter, didn't mean to make you all depressed

* * *

She'd wanted to stay, wanted to reach out to them and tell them she was still here, make them see her and they could in some way still be a family. But they were blind to her presence, deaf to her words, and it was breaking her heart. She couldn't watch them cut her cake and talk about their favourite memories of her. Standing shakily, she turned and made for the door, stumbling out, tripping and landing on the floor in a heap, not bothering to move because nobody would see her anyway. She lay there crying, clutching her staff close to her for some kind of comfort, and she resolved not to move because everything just seemed too difficult. It was only when two very large arms scooped her up did she realise someone had indeed been watching her, and then there was the sensation of being sucked through a straw... her body seemed to twist and thin out to almost nothing, and then there was normality again, she felt proportionate, but also incredibly nauseous. Whoever had picked her up from the ground and carried her was now placing her down on a soft armchair, throwing a blanket over her and a cup of hot chocolate was pressed into her hands.

"I knew you would go there," North said tenderly, and his normally booming voice seemed unnaturally quiet for him. "I deliver gifts to Alice every year... I also know they hate Christmas now, because is around when you died... no matter. Are you okay?"

She looked up and her golden-brown eyes met his brilliant blue ones, and she felt her lower lip tremble, and she shook her head and burst into tears.

"No!" she cried, and North took the hot drink from her shaking hands and leaned forward, hugging her. "I-I don't want to be like this, I wa- want to be back with my family," she was sobbing now, clutching onto the older man and trembling. She'd seen them grieving for her, seen them celebrating her life and remembering her, and as much as she'd longed to reach out for them she'd not been able to. She'd been sat right in front of them and nobody had so much as turned their head her way. It broke her heart and after everything she'd had to get used to this past month, she couldn't cope with this one thing. It was the straw that broke the camels back, and she had to relieve herself of all these emotions now before they consumed her.

"I know," North said gently, soothingly, stroking her hair gently with the back of his hand and hushing her like a small child, "I understand."

She cried into his arms and he held her like a protective parent while she did so, not saying a word, because there was nothing could be said to ease her pain and loss, or convince her it would get better. The truth of it was that it would get better, you eventually learned to move on and cope with your past. All of the spirits had done, and the Guardians' too.

Her tears subsided to hiccups, and she sat still while he cradled her silently. After a moment she composed herself, sniffing slightly before wiping her eyes on the back of her hand and shifting herself, moving away from the Russian and smiling slightly up at him, her eyes still watery but the tears were held back.

"Thank you," she said weakly, taking the hot chocolate back from him gratefully and accepting a cookie from one of the elves who so selflessly had refrained from eating it. "I'm... sorry about that."

"No worries!" North laughed out loud, sounding more like his normal self again with his voice loud and reverberating around the room, a smile gracing his face and making his blue eyes crinkle in the corners. She couldn't help but smile wider at the man, feeling warmer and happier inside suddenly. She guessed it was the magic of the place, like in the Warren she'd feel such hope for life, here she couldn't help but feel joy even in her hardest times. "We all have many bad times, and we all understand. If you need to talk, you know I am here, yes?" he asked, and his eyes twinkled and he smiled at her with such care etched into his features.

"I know," she said quietly, letting him clasp her free hand between his, "I just... it's getting used to things I suppose."

He nodded knowingly, squeezing her hand gently before heaving himself up with a sigh and walking out of the room without another word, kicking a stray elf out of the way – to her amusement – to give her some privacy to think things over. Slowly she reclined in the chair, looking about the room she'd spent her evening in exactly twelve years ago today. She remembered her fifteenth birthday well, as it was the night she met all of the Guardians' in the North Pole. She'd sat in exactly this seat, been given the dress she was wearing now, and had a fantastic evening dancing lightly on her toes with Tooth, trying to keep up with the fast paced dance North tried to teach her to all of their amusements and she'd finished by being whisked away home on a cloud made of sand, slipped into her room through her window and she fell into one of the most blissful sleeps she'd ever had. Now she was here again, but under much different circumstances. It was strange, like the oddest sense of deja vu, but it couldn't be helped she thought with a shrug, and she went about drinking her chocolate when she felt something tugging on the blanket draped over her legs, and she looked down to see one of the elves holding another cookie up to her. Grinning, she reached out and broke half off, leaving him with half, and together they dipped their bits of biscuit into her drink, and he sat on the chair arm nattering in his language and she understood not a word of it.

"Nora?" came a voice from the door, and she turned her head to see Aster stood there looking relieved. "Bloody hell, I was worrying myself silly looking for you," he cried, bounding over in a few hops and crouching beside her seat.

"Why are rabbits always so nervous?" she asked him quietly, with a hint of a smile, and he tisked at her.

"Why'd you go running off like that?" he shot back, "you could have waited until you'd calmed down a bit and then we could've gone together."

"I didn't want to wait Aster," she explained, sighing and handing what was left of the chocolate to the elf, who ran off with it quickly, making sure she couldn't change her mind. "I just wanted to see my family..."

"How did you manage to find them?" he asked, leaning his arms on the chair arm and resting his head upon them.

"I asked Martin, and he told me," she said, not even thinking about what kind of reaction it may cause.

"Wha- wait, who? The brumbie you didn't get on with? How did... what did you do? How did you manage that?" Aster asked, jumping up suddenly and looking surprised. "I mean, I just thought people couldn't... see you."

"They can't, but he could feel me like I could always feel Jack Frost, I managed to influence his writing and I told him I wanted to see my family and he told me where to find them. I think that's the end of it though to be honest, I think it scared him a little and I want him to get on with his life now."

There was silence, and without thinking Aster leaned forward slightly, pressing his nose against her forehead. He froze instantly, stomach knotting as he realised what he was doing and that familiar sense of guilt began clenching at him. The Pooka tried to calm himself, console himself in the fact that this was just to comfort her, it was innocent. Except that something in him stirred, was urging him to wrap his arms about her... press his lips to hers... he held back.

"I know what you're feeling sunflower... I've gone through it myself," he said quietly, and she held her breath, waiting to see if he said anything else, but he didn't, he just stayed quiet, and she understood he might not want to go into it, understanding it could be a painful memory. It struck her momentarily that he – as a Pooka – could have had a mate who he has lost, and perhaps that was why he didn't want to talk about it. She didn't really know though, and preferred not to assume what might have been long before she was even thought about.

"I'll manage," she said with a smile, standing and brushing past him slowly, her fingers grazing over his and she smiled slightly, grabbing her staff from the floor before walking out into the main workshop, looking up at the globe, around at the yetis and the toys and breathing deeply, inhaling the magic. Aster stood right behind her, and she turned to look at him. "I have two more months before Autumn comes... will I get to meet that spirit?" she asked him, and he nodded with a smile on his face.

"Oh yeah, you need to know Tommy, she'll love getting to know you too. You kind of have to... pass the seasonal baton to her, sort of thing."

"The seasonal baton?" Eleanor laughed, brushing her fingers through her short hair.

"Well yeah, I give Spring over to you to turn into Summer, you give Summer to Tommy to turn into Autumn, she gives it to Frost to turn into Winter, and then I have to beat it out of the little dipstick."

"You really don't like Jack do you?" she asked, a frown tugging at her lips. "He helped me a lot really... I'm sure he must have done something good for you?"

Aster felt his thoughts flicker briefly to the night of Eleanor's death, where he'd made to race into the collapsed heap when he'd regained his senses and Jack had done his damnedest to hold him back and stop him cooking himself, how he had stayed with him afterwards to keep an eye on him, although not a word was spoken and nothing was done. How he'd lain a comforting hand on his shoulder, but couldn't bring himself to do much more because he was fond of the girl too, and what they had witnessed was just... it was just horrific.

"He's all right I suppose," the bunny muttered, rolling his eyes, "but he can be a pain, he's not serious enough about his season."

"Winter is meant to be fun," Eleanor reasoned, "if he has fun, he's doing it right, isn't he?"

"Whatever, as long as he doesn't mess with my egg hunts."

There was a silence hang between them then, and she wanted to laugh at the sullen expression on the rabbit's face, but she knew it would only put him in a foul mood, and she couldn't bring herself to do it, even though it was tremendously funny. She decided to change the subject and find out who she would be working with instead come Summers' end.

"So who is Tommy?" she asked, leaning against the railings and watching the yeti bustle about making toys and decorating.

"Tommy? Ah, well we call her Tommy, but her name is Autumn. Always has been, as long as we've known her. She's nice enough really, bit of a ditz though. She kind of just floats around and tweaks a few things here and there and then before you know it, Autumn has arrived. Not a lot you need to do with her... just remember, if things start dying, don't bring them back to life. She hates having to do things twice."

"She a bit lazy?" Eleanor chuckled, and Aster nodded grimly. If there was one thing he hated it was laziness. He was such a hard worker, it was just natural to him to get on with the task at hand, and he obviously took his season and his duty very seriously.

There was another gap in the conversation, and Eleanor squirmed a little under the piercing green gaze Aster was giving her. It felt uncomfortable at first, but then the rabbit smile a little, and she eased up, watching him, interested as he moved his hand slowly towards his belt. He reached into one of his pouched and retrieved something incredibly small. She looked at him a little more curiously, as he shifter back and away from her, a decent arms length and a half before extending his arm to her, and she reached out her arm to take it off him.

Aster dropped the item into Eleanor's hand, and she held it on her palm, looking at it carefully before her mouth fell open. It was a small silver moon, delicate and beautiful, glinting in the light the most beautiful shades of blue and purple, which would contrast amazingly to the golds and oranges that glimmered off the sun pendant on her necklace.

"Happy birthday sunflower," Aster said quietly, but his voice was cheerful. His smile was growing a little as the wonder shone in her eyes, and she could barely stop looking at the beautiful silver charm in her hand. "I, ah, figured it'd look nice..." he added, stepping away again, only a little and so discreetly she didn't notice.

"Aster... it's wonderful, thank you," she said ever so quietly, her voice soft and barely above a whisper, and she looked up at him with bright eyes that made his heart squeeze a little.

"No problem."


	30. Chapter 30

Hi guys, I've had a couple of comments from various readers who have said they're glad I continued from chapter 19 where I was going to kill Eleanor off and have done with the fic, and they wonder how far I will actually take it now.

Well, you know when you start writing something and then that little voice in the back of your head keeps telling you that you _need_ to carry on? I have that. And I want to finish this story because it's more a sense of accomplishment and you have to finish it because there are readers and also _dammit_ I said so! So I have this whole image in my head of what this story will shape up to be, and how I want it to go and what will happen and all of that, and... well so far I'm writing chapter 43, and I'm nowhere near that epic idea I have, I'm shaping up to it though, it's all coming into play!

I suppose if you all don't want to read that much then I can cut down and edit chapters and take bits out and stuff like that, but if you're willing to read that much then I'll write as much as I can. It'll proably be 60+ chapters towards the end, if not a lot more, and it also means I don't have to edit and snip 13 chapters I've already written.

It's up to you, drop me a message or leave your thoughts in your reviews.

Thanks all :) please enjoy and review and all that jazz

* * *

The Summer months faded, and as Eleanor skipped along rooftops of a town south of Paris she noticed how the wind had a bite to it, the warm air cooling to a light breeze – not as bad as Winter, but it had the ability to make your nose turn blue. It was while she was standing atop a farmhouse chimney did she notice a girl with the brightest red hair run through one of the fields, arms splayed wide, and everything she touched turned different hues of gold, brown, red, orange... every colour of Autumn, and instantly the summer spirit knew who the girl was. Leaping down, staff in hand, she ran to meet the girl half way.

"Hey!" she cried, and the girl stopped dead, her bright blue eyes widening and a big smile spread across her face. She was dressed in what looked like brightly coloured rags, strips of material sewn together to form the most colourful outfit she'd seen. Her tunic was made of all different coloured patches, her stocking were striped brown and red, and she was wearing the brightest yellow Wellington boots.

"You can see me?!" the girl cried, jumping forward and throwing her arms around Eleanor as if they were old friends. It was strange, because she'd never seen the girl before in her life, and she had an accent she could only pinpoint as being European. Possibly Dutch, but she wasn't an expert on these things.

"Of course I can," Eleanor stated, prying the girl off her, "I'm a spirit too, you see."

"Of course you are!" Tommy said with a large smile on her face, showing her dimples on her pale freckled face. "It is lovely to meet you, I am Tommy, the Autumn spirit."

"Eleanor, Summer spirit," the girls introduced themselves, and Eleanor looked around at what were her green trees, now a rainbow of colours, the flowers she'd grown giving way to newer ones for the new season. She didn't mind, it felt like a gentle change, and she could rest for a season before she had to bring Summer to the Southern hemisphere. "You're doing a lovely job," she added, smiling at the European girl, who beamed back.

"Yeah? You too! Summer was wonderful, it looks so pretty turning to Autumn now!"

Eleanor could only laugh and nod along with the girl, who seemed a little too excitable for her. She understood her enthusiasm, saw those bright colours as an expression of self and loved her for it, but she saw how the girl seemed a little too relaxed, and though she understood she was only doing a job, she felt bad that the plants she was turning golden to die were a local farmers crops. She'd been in France again recently, watched the family who lived at this farm closely and understood that they had suffered a terrible loss recently, and farm work had gone undone for some days now.

She'd taken it upon herself to grow grass inside the paddocks and the stables, make the earth a little less dry in the chicken pen so more worms would be drawn there and they'd have something to eat. She'd found what feed she could and had spread it around but there was little she could do in the way of actual farming and harvesting crops.

"Um, Tommy, do you think I could have a word about the crops?" she asked, and she saw those blue eyes narrow suspiciously, and she felt this could go either way right now.

"Yes, what is the problem?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"The thing is... the farmer here recently lost his son, so he's been grieving these past two weeks instead of harvesting... do you think I could bring them back to life a little so he gets a good harvest? I really don't think the poor man could cope if something else happened."

Eleanor saw the girl narrow her eyes at her, but she didn't say no. Instead she closed her eyes and thought for a moment, then nodded and let a smile grow on her face.

"Okay then, but only because of what happened."

That was all the Summer spirit needed, and with a burst she opened her arms and the fields sprang back to life, the luscious greens returning and the stems standing upright again. Tommy nodded silently as she looked over the farm lands, and she smiled a little.

"You are very good," she noted, winking slightly. "I'll give him two weeks, then I'll be back. Autumn doesn't wait around forever."

"Thank you," was all Eleanor could reply, smiling at the girl as she skipped off, the grass she trod on browning and the flowers falling in her wake. As cheerful and lively as the girl was, as beautiful as her season could be, Eleanor grimaced at the fact that the girl literally brought death to the world... But that was enough of that, and she turned, running to start her off, and in a haze of flame and ash a phoenix rose into the air, singing its song over Paris.

* * *

"So what are you planning on doing this season?" Aster asked the brunette girl who was curled up on the grass in the Warren, playing with tulips and watching fireflies dance about.

"I don't know really. I might wander around a while since I have the chance. Explore the world a bit more. Do you need any help preparing Spring for the Southern Hemisphere?" she asked, rolling over towards him, but she stopped in her tracks when she noticed how Aster was looking at her.

His green eyes were squinted ever so slightly, and he looked almost sad, which concerned her and made her edge towards him a little. His mouth had that soft downwards curve, and he looked incredibly thoughtful.

"Aster, are you okay?" she asked, and his ears twitched slightly before they flattened down against his head. His eyes opened wider and they darted to her face and away a few times before he nodded jerkily, having obviously been caught off guard.

"I'm fine flower," he replied gruffly, turning away from her and closing his eyes tightly when she could no longer see his face. He felt so conflicted... since her return they'd shared a few kisses, for instance the one on the riverbank back in June when he found her, and he remembered how he hadn't wanted to let her go again. How she'd curled up on his lap and how he had held her close. Since then, he'd been more tentative, more shy around her, and because he felt guilty about his feelings for the girl he'd been distancing himself from her, making sure there was less opportunity for them to be left alone in what could turn into intimate situations. He knew Eleanor wasn't blind to the situation. He knew she had feelings for him, and the Pooka knew that the Summer spirit was aware he had feelings for her, though she probably wasn't aware of his inner conflict. Breathing deeply, intent on keeping the conversation going between them, he turned back to her, but stopped, mouth agape, and he couldn't help but stare.

She was watching him now, and the sunlight streaming into the Warren reflected of her eyes, making them glitter gold with the most beautiful and subtle chocolate tones. She was lying on her side, one arm stretched up above her head, which was resting on the arm, and the other curled over her stomach, her fingers brushing through the grass. The way her arm draped over her midsection only made her figure all the more pronounced. She had a very petite waist, and then wide hips and an average bosom, her curves womanly and very attractive. But her legs. Mani forgive him, he loved her legs so much. They were long and slender, and when she lay on the grass sunbathing or relaxing he found himself stealing looks at her legs, found himself wishing the hem of her dress higher so he could see more of her flesh, and he knew it was wrong, but she was beautiful beyond comparison in his eyes, and he was a bloke at the end of the day, and he was going to think like one. And now it seemed like his mind had spilled out and his imagination was running away, because the dress had inched its way up to the top of her thighs, and he could see her legs clearly, and she looked so stunning he could barely think, and he wanted to go to her now and take her in his arms and kiss her, hold her, show her that he really did love her.

Then the Pooka stopped himself, feeling ill. She looked every part the woman now, but images of those big brown eyes flashed to mind, the kid wanting him to read bedtime stories. It was wrong.

"Aster?" she asked again, pushing herself up so she was in a sitting position and she cocked her head at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothin' love," he said quickly, too quickly, and his voice came out thick and gruff. "I just... I'm still amazed by how you've grown," he added, trying to sound like it wasn't a big deal, when in reality he could have screamed, his heart was so conflicted.

"Do you still see me as a child?" she asked suddenly, standing up and walking to where he'd gone to test his new hybrid flower. He paused in what he was doing and stood upright at his full six foot one and he looked down at her, brow furrowed inquisitively as he pondered what she'd said.

"Why?" he asked, deflecting the question, but she wouldn't have it, and she crossed her arms.

"Because I'm asking you... do you see me as a child?"

"No," he lied, "now why?" he asked, scratching the nape of his neck in thought.

"Because... Aster... I just wanted to know. I see you looking at me sometimes, and it's different, and you sound different, and you act different dammit! But then you look away and you look angry and you treat me like I'm still a kid. You've known how I feel about you for years now, I made it clear when I kissed you when I was sixteen... but you keep changing."

There was a silence in the air, a pause hanging between the pair of them, and the rabbit had frozen, his mouth open ever so slightly, ears pinned back, hand still fixed at the base of his neck, and then she saw the slightest movement in his nose and he jerked back to his senses once again and shook himself physically.

"I... sunflower, you know how I feel about you," he said quietly, standing forward slightly while raising his arm and brushing his hand along the side of her face. She looked sad. He hated her looking like this.

"I'm not sure I do," Eleanor muttered, tilting her head against his paw, letting his fingers stray there against her cheek before his arm dropped. Her golden eyes found his emerald ones, she searched him, read him, and sighed. She knew, but she didn't like it.

"I love you, flower," he whispered, and he kept his eyes glued to hers, inched a little closer.

"But Aster, you still see me as a child, don't you? Sometimes at least, and you can't get past that."

Indeed, he looked at her and saw the bonnie ankle biter that she used to be, sat in his lap with a book nearly as big as her, begging him to read fairy tales to her, and do the voices too. He'd growl and be gruff for the monsters, don a high pitched false voice for the princesses which would send her sprawling in fits of giggles, and when it came to the prince, she always told him to talk like he did anyway, because in her words "_you're always going to be a hero, Aster!_". Sometimes when he looked at her he didn't see the young woman she was, but the child she used to be. Fixing his leg up, looking for him in the woods, sneaking him past Roger, that old mutt (rest his soul) and sitting looking up at him with those big brown eyes and being absolutely enthralled in his stories of his lifetime.

There was a silence, but it spoke volumes.

"I'll see you later," she said quietly, and he heard her voice crack a little, it catch in her throat, and he felt terrible, standing stock still as she leant in and kissed his cheek gently, pulling away and lingering there for a moment, her nose brushing his fur gently, and then she gathered herself again, turned, picked up her staff and she was gone in sparks and flames. The Pooka closed his eyes and sighed angrily, lowering himself to sit on the ground with one hand rubbing his temple where a headache was quickly forming.

He so obviously did love her, so wanted her to be his, but he couldn't get past the fact he'd seen her grow up from nothing more than a bub, and he felt terrible when he kissed her, but happy at the same time. He'd never been so conflicted before, and he needed advice. He really did.


	31. Chapter 31

So... don't hate me.

I'm going to make this story as amazingly long as it needs to be, with all my chapters and thoughts and writing, so you have that to look forward to if you like the story.

But for now, we've hit hiatus, because I'm working on a project for my friend Cat, whom I met on fanfiction 3 years ago and we've become close as sisters, and it's her birthday on the 9th March and I NEED to get this thing finished for her. It's important to me, because she's literally one of the kindest, most considerate people I have the pleasure of knowing. The very least I can do for her is put my whole heart and soul in this gift for her, so I will do. If I do get the chance, if I find five minutes then I'll put another chapter up, I promise.

I apologise for the inconvenience, I'm sorry if this pisses people off, but she comes first, because I love her :)

Enjoy

* * *

"North!" the giant rabbit yelled, running through the North Pole workshop. He'd put off talking to anyone about his inner conflict for a few weeks (years even, if he considered everything started back when Nora was sixteen), but it was eating at him now, taking over his mind at every available opportunity, leaving him no option but to dwell on what he'd said... or not said, to be more specific. What made it worse was that he hadn't seen Eleanor since the day she'd tried talking to him about how she felt, hadn't seen hide, nor hair, nor feather. It was like she had vanished, been wiped off the face of the Earth, and the thought hurt him. He couldn't lose her again. He couldn't physically manage it. As he ran he accidentally stood on elves, knocked into yeti who cried out at him in anger, and he felt thoroughly lost because for once he'd managed to find his way in without overshooting it, but had ended up in some far corner of the Pole. Now he couldn't find North, and it was starting to get his goat.

After searching for twenty minutes, he eventually came to the older blokes office and pushed the door open, hearing something smash like glass and shards of ice fell about his feet. He stood stock still, mouth agape and fur on end, having been shocked into a state of fright. North was sat on his chair looking at him with his mouth open too, and he let out a strangled whine before he hit his fist against his desk, shouting angrily in Russian before looking back at Aster pouting.

"Bunny!" he cried, brow furrowed as he stood and walked over, kicking shards of ice away, "next time knock, yes?" he huffed, but there was a twinkle in his eyes that told the Pooka he wasn't really in trouble, he was just being reprimanded. He felt sheepish, it was like he was a kit again with his father telling him off.

"Sorry North, but I needed to talk to you," he explained quickly, in a garbled rush. North sensed the urgency and ushered the Pooka into his office, offering a chair and a cup of fresh hot cocoa, which the other Guardian declined politely, as he'd never had the taste for it. He did, however, pick up a cookie from the plate on the desk and bite into it, mulling his words over. "I... it's about Eleanor," the rabbit started, clasping his hands together, and North only nodding knowingly.

"Ah! Tell me all about it," North said warmly, picking up his own mug full of cocoa and grabbing a biscuit, settling back in his huge chair while Aster racked his mind for a way to explain his dilemma. He couldn't though, he couldn't imagine how he would word it, and the thought of justifying his feelings for the new spirit seemed incomprehensible. North swallowed his cookie and settled back a little more, blue eyes scrutinising the rabbit, and he hummed to himself.

"Is about how you love her, but you are scared to say or act on it?" he asked, drinking deeply from his own mug again and biting into another biscuit, looking cool as a cucumber and ever so relaxed while Aster was sent reeling into shock. There was a pause while North ate and drank, and Aster stared on blankly, not knowing how to approach that. It was worse than trying to explain in the first place. Somehow, North knew everything...

"Ha- h- how-?" he stammered eventually, finding his voice but it was pained, coming out in squeaks.

"I have liked women before, Bunny, and I understand how being a Guardian can affect your heart," he said solemnly, setting his mug to the side and flipping the biscuit over between his fingers idly. "When Nora died, and you came here, we all knew you suffered a great loss. We understood your pain, from a Guardian perspective. But I saw in your eyes that it was more than just love as a Guardian. It was a lot more. How long have you loved Eleanor, in romantic way?"

"North, I dunno... a long time but, see, that's the thing," he replied, leaning back in the chair, running his hand over his ears and through his fur. "I loved her as a Guardian, she was a kid, and I looked after her. Isn't it wrong of me to feel more for her than that?"

"She looked after you first!" North roared, laughing. "She took you in that night, remember? You told me all about it. And yes, you love her as Guardian first, when she was child, but now she is adult and you love her differently. Don't let past dictate how you feel. If you love her, go get her."

The way the Russian said it was like it was the most simple thing in the world. As if he hadn't wanted to just tell her outright, but he still felt it was wrong. She'd been his to protect, he couldn't just ignore what had happened, their history and the friendship they'd had which he'd cherished for years. If he could forget that he'd have had her when she was alive, but he couldn't... and another slight issue he had was that he didn't know where she was at all, which might prove to be the bigger problem if he did manage to sort out his feelings. North watched the rabbit mulling everything over, his brow furrowed in thought, and he sighed a little, leaning forward in his chair and resting his hand upon Aster's shoulder. The rabbit looked up, and their eyes met and North nodded slowly.

"You always say, 'there is a time for everything, and everything in it's time'. Well what if now is your time with Eleanor? What if you miss this chance? You think she will wait forever for something she doesn't think will happen? No. You need to decide how you feel, but be quick. You will lose her if you're not quick."

He made sense, and slowly the rabbit nodded his head, giving North just enough time to drop his hand from his shoulder before he stood up and walked quickly for the door, pausing just momentarily to look back at the older man who had a twinkle in his eye.

"What do you think I should do?" he asked quietly, but North heard him, and smiled slightly.

"Find her Bunny, tell her how you feel. Then never let her go again."

Aster nodded, smiling back in thanks before letting himself out of the office, sighing slightly before he tapped his foot on the floor and dived down the rabbit hole that appeared.

North watched as the shadow of Bunny disappeared from behind his glass door, and he sighed to himself. He knew the rabbit had better hurry, because a woman would not wait forever, no matter how much she loved you, and he also knew how terrible it was to lose the one you love. The legend of 'Mrs Clause' was not entirely unprecedented, although he'd never had a wife in all his life. He had loved though, a girl called Katherine. He remembered fighting for Santoff Claussen, protecting the children there from a bear that – though he fought it off and sent it away – left him close to death. This was when he met her. She was only young, in her late teens but still clinging to childhood by threads. She had tended his wounds and kept him alive, and shown such love and compassion and when her adoptive father had asked him to help fight the Nightmare King to protect the small village, the small haven for wonder and magic, he said yes. He couldn't look into her bright grey eyes and refuse...

He had loved her entirely, but she had fallen for another. He'd lost his chance long ago, and it had tormented him for years, because he had wanted to be the one to make her smile like he did, wanted to be the one whose arms she threw herself into, wanted it to be his lips she kissed.

He'd gotten over his love of her years ago when Mani had made him a Guardian in his old age, restoring a youth in him he'd not felt in so long, and they kept in touch, but he had moved on, and so had she, and to him she was just the greatest friend he could have. But he knew what it felt like to watch the one you love love another, and he knew he didn't want anyone to experience that if he could help it. Sighing, he pushed himself up from his chair and walked slowly around his desk, to the mantle where there was a small photo frame. It was only a small picture, drawn with coal, but it was him when he was much younger, and Katherine.

North wasn't stupid. He'd known Eleanor adored Bunny for years, as it was obvious when they'd come to the Pole on her fifteenth birthday and they had such chemistry. He'd seen how Bunny's attitude towards her changed when the war started, especially after that Easter Sunday he told him about, where she had arranged for children to go on an egg hunt to keep their belief in him up, and how she had sent the children home with him to run and find Mary, her sister. He just didn't seem to realise that.

And the older man hoped Bunny figured it out soon, or else he'd lose the girl.


	32. Chapter 32

Hey, I know I put this on hiatus but I got really bored and I've gotten stuck with my friends' gift, so I'm a bit frustrated and UGH.

But this chapter is a lot better. You'll like it.

You've only been asking for it since chapter 19.

She finally meets Jack!

* * *

Eleanor cried out in frustration and kicked out at a pile of leaves, sending them scattering and she screamed, hitting her staff against the wooden fence. It wasn't that she was angry he didn't feel the same about her, because she knew he did. It was that he looked at her and saw her as a child, and she wasn't any more.

She understood it on some level... she brushed her hand through her hair, gulping down lungfuls of air and trying to calm herself. She understood that he'd watched her grow up, she knew he used to take care of her... but she knew he loved her too. Loved her more than a Guardian would love a child. More than a friend. He wouldn't have kissed her if he didn't, wouldn't hold her the way he did, and it made her a bit angry thinking about it, because she felt like she'd been completely honest about everything, she had been before she died, but if he had such issues he shouldn't have let her kiss him. Shouldn't have kissed her back. It was stupid.

She'd moved on from the garden, wandering around the town. It was a small place in America, Burgess, and she liked it. Everyone seemed friendly, and everyone knew everyone. It was a close knit community, much like her small section of London had been, the whole town knew one another, knew each others' business, and she thought it was lovely because if something bad was happening then people had your back, they took care of you. If you had something to celebrate then everyone would celebrate with you. It was when she was approaching a small pond did she notice it was already iced over, although nothing else around was frozen, nothing even had a touch of frost to it.

"What...?" she whispered, approaching slowly and looking at the ice. Slowly she reached her staff out and touched the surface, and it melted quickly, leaving a small patch of water on the edge of the mass of water.

"Who are you?" came a voice from behind her, and with a shriek she span around, losing her footing and tumbling backwards into the patch of water she'd made in the ice, dropping down and going under. Nora felt herself slip into a state of panic, and she pushed upwards only to hit at ice, which she couldn't melt, she couldn't concentrate enough to. It was then hands grabbed at her, pulled her sideways and she was his by cold air, which she greedily gulped down, clutching the person who had pulled her to safety and she trembled as they pulled her closer, hugging her as they tried to calm her down.

"I- I'm sorry!" she gasped, pushing her sodden hair out of her fair and looking up into the iciest blue eyes she'd ever seen. "I'm sorry..." she replied, much more quietly, and much calmer.

"It's okay!" he replied, and her golden eyes searched his face. He looked the same age as she was, was taller by a few inches, and he really did have the most gorgeous eyes. His hair was a shocking white, like snow, and he was wearing a plain blue jumper, a white collared shirt beneath and as she stepped back she saw he was wearing tattered brown pants. "Are you all right?" he asked her, reaching forward and touching her cheek gingerly, brow furrowed and eyes concerned.

"I'm fine," she said, feeling herself flush with embarrassment. "I... thank you."

For a moment they were both quiet, and the more she looked at the boy the more she felt she knew him from somewhere, but he was the first to break the silence, his eyes narrowed at her and his body tense.

"E... Eleanor?" he asked quietly, taking a small step away from her, looking at her face and into her eyes.

"Yes?" she asked, taking the hem of her dress in her hands and wringing the water out as best she could.

"You... no," the boy said, and the more she listened to him, the more she felt she knew him, and she stood upright, staring hard at him, wondering where she'd heard his voice before. "You died," he added after several moments pause, and it was then something clicked in her mind.

"You... are you Jack?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. It was his turn to look surprised, and he nodded mutely, eyes widening, and he looked shocked when her face broke into a grin, and she flung her arms about him.

"Jack!" she shouted happily, hugging him close, and slowly he returned the embrace, holding her tight and pressing his face into her neck and hair. She realised he was still in shock, and she pulled away from his as best she could, still pressed up tight against him, her face inches from him as he held her, and she saw tears in his eyes.

"You... I swear you-"

"Died. I know. I did," she told him gently, gripping his shoulders and smiling up at him. "I don't remember it, but the man in the moon brought me back. I take care of Summer now."

"I... I can't believe it. I... me and Bunny watched as they pulled you out," he whispered hoarsely. "Now you're... I can't believe it!"

He was still shocked, but a small smile crept onto his face, lopsided and boyish and she smiled at him in return, burying her face in the crook of his neck where his shoulder met his collar bone. It felt strange... she'd known of Jack as long as she'd known Aster, but she'd never seen him before. She never imagined that he would have looked like this, and she felt happy to be able to see him for the first time in her life. Similarly Jack felt his heart swell as the girl held onto him. He'd hoped for years that as she knew about him, she would be able to see him. He didn't know why she couldn't, because all it really took was the belief of one child to be seen, he knew that from North, Tooth, Bunny and Sandy. Maybe it wasn't his time to be seen, but it made him feel sick in the pit of his stomach... how long would he be lonely for? the silver haired boy pondered a moment before he mentally shook himself and remembered the girl hugging him.

"So how long have you been... back?" he asked, and she smiled sheepishly, finally letting go of him, and he let go of her, but they didn't move too far apart. There was an instant connection between the two, they felt some bond and neither could stop grinning at the other.

"Only since June," she told him, wringing her hands together and shivering slightly as the wet clothing stuck to her. She didn't wait long before she summoned up the energy and blasted her clothing, her skin and her hair dry, warmth rushing over her, and she smiled at him as he nodded, impressed.

There was a silence between them, but it wasn't awkward. They were taking in one another, drinking in every detail. Eleanor would never have imagined that Jack Frost would look like this. For some reason she'd imagined he'd be more like a fairy, and less... normal. He did just look like an ordinary teenager. He was tall, lanky, slouched when he stood, looked cocky but he seemed kind enough. He was genuine.

"I can't believe you're here," Jack said quietly, still smiling, reaching out to her again and touching her arm, as if making sure she was real. Eleanor felt used to this now, every Guardian and spirit she'd met since she'd come back had touched her arms or face, checking to see if she was solid and there.

"I'm glad I am," she smiled, reaching up and touching his shoulder, liking how solid he felt for the first time. The only times she'd been able to feel him before was the bitter and biting chill she felt on her hands, arms and face when he's brushed past her before.

"Has Bunny seen you yet?" the white haired boy asked, grinning wider for a moment, before it faded. "He was a wreck you know, soon as the house started crumbling he snapped back, tried running for you... I had to stop him, or he'd have been crushed too. He just sat there for hours in the rain, waiting..."

She felt taken aback slightly. Of all the things Aster had told her, he'd never said this. He'd never told her that he had waited hours for her to be found, had sat in the rain... had tried to get her. All he'd ever said, when they did touch on the subject, was that he'd frozen. That he hadn't even tried. She'd never been bothered, she understood that when fear clutched at you there wasn't always anything you could do. As she'd said before, oft time when she felt afraid he legs had turned to lead. Or she'd panic so terribly she lost sight of what she was doing. She'd understood that. But knowing now that he had gone to plough into a collapsing building to get her, that it was an utterly desperate last ditch attempt to get her, save her, keep her alive... her heart broke slightly, but only for the fact that she hadn't known before, and she had never given enough credit to the Guardian. Yes, he had been scared at first, but he was going to risk his life to save her, and would probably have died trying. He would have died if Jack hadn't stopped him.

"I need to find him," she murmured, diverting her eyes from his. "I didn't know, he never told me..."

Jack was silent for a moment, and he rubbed his hands against his legs before shoving them in his pockets, and he looked slightly awkward.

"Um, one thing?" he asked, looking up and around, as if avoiding eye context, but he did eventually look at her, biting his lip nervously. "Did you two... have a thing?"

"Why?" she asked, tilting her head and letting her lips part slightly.

"It killed him when you died. That's more than just being a Guardian, and a friend."


	33. Chapter 33

It's happened. Your frustrations can be over!

I have so much on my plate right now. So firstly I'm trying to write this fic. Which is fine, because I love it and I want to nurture it and it's my baby, and so many people are looking into the metaphorical pram and going "Oh look! What a cute fanfiction! Aw, he has his father's eyes!" and I'm like, "yeah, yeah" smiling away and oh so happy.

But then I have my other fics, a sequel I'm working on for **'Slave to Darkness'** which was all about Pitch being a general idiot, and the new fic is called **'Master of Darkness'** (I think we see a theme going here, Darkness ya know) and this fic is getting bigger and expanding perhaps not chapter wise, but the concepts are getting quite sophisticated, and it's moving into it's second birthday if you will as I've made a sequal (two parts, two birthdays) and I just KNOW it's going to be jealous of it's little sibling Summer because I have more chapters for it and I spend more time playing with it... and what kind of writer mother am I to spend more time on one fic than another!? I'm a terrible parent.

Then last night I conceived another ficlet in my head, which I swear is due any time now, and I feel terrible because I'm already neglecting one child and you know **'The End of Summer'** will be the only middle child ever to get more attention than older or younger siblings...

Is it strange that my stories become like a strange dysfunctional family in my head? And it all makes sense to me...

AND THEN I HAVE TO DO THIS GIFT FOR CAT AND ARGGHHHHH

*dead*

* * *

She'd said goodbye to Jack with a big hug, and she thanked him for everything he ever did, and he only smiled at her, holding her in a great hug, squeezing her tightly before letting her go and kicking up what looked like a crook from the ground as she stooped and picked up her staff. They shared one curious look before it twigged and they both shared a grin. As opposite as they seemed to be, there were so many similarities.

"I'll see you soon, yeah?" he asked, leaning heavily on his staff.

"Of course!" she cried, grinning and moving away a little. She was aware of how hot she got when she changed, she didn't want to shock him or anything. She'd felt how cold he was, as they'd been hugging for the last ten minutes, and she knew she was a lot warmer than anything he'd be used to. And indeed, when she burst into flames and rose up from the smoke and sparks as a phoenix, Jack stared on in such surprise that it made her laugh, which came out as a trill, and she soared up and suddenly he was there beside her, dancing on the wind.

He whooped and they circled one another, before she pulled herself into a nosedive and plummeted to the ground, faster and faster, and the wind whistled past her, then she willed herself gone, and in a burst of light she was swooping over the green fields and rocky hills of the Warren. She went in to land and when she was a foot off the ground she changed again, dropping her staff and landing gently on her feet, feeling the grass beneath her toes, breathing in the sweet smell of morning dew and exotic flowers, closing her eyes against the warmth of the sunlight that streamed through. It took her a moment to figure out why she was there, but then she remembered, and she looked around.

"Aster?" she called, but there was no reply. She'd have to look for him.

* * *

He felt ready to drop. He'd whipped around everywhere he thought Nora could be, but he'd not spotted hide nor hair of her, and it was beginning to get frustrating. He realised that as soon as he left one place, she could more than probably be going there, but he was bushed, and he needed to get home. There was still a lot of Spring to bring to the Southern hemisphere, and he couldn't well do that if he was sleeping.

Casting one last look around, as if expecting her to walk past him, he sighed. She didn't, and he knew she wouldn't have, so with a groan he opened up one of his tunnels and dove down, making that final sprint out to the Warren, and when he landed on the cool grass and he sighed, stretching out on his stomach, savouring the feeling of his aching muscles relaxing and he moaned slightly, closing his eyes against the sunlight.

Then he heard something in the distance, heard the sentinel eggs moving, and that meant there was an intruder, and he suppressed a growl as he hoisted himself up again, taking out his knife and looking about. The sound was coming towards him, and he poised himself ready to attack when through one of the half crumbled stone arches came Eleanor, jogging away from the sentinels with a bored look on her face. She spotted him and beamed suddenly, picking up into a sprint to get to him, and he just put his knife away safely when she flung herself at his chest, knocking him backwards and she went tumbling after him. They lay in a heap on the floor, and he just about noticed the sentinels stood above them, looking quite placid.

"Back to your places," he muttered to them, and they turned and left without a pause, always doing what he said, forever loyal to him. He turned his attention back to the girl in his arms, who had her face pressed against his chest, her eyes squeezed tight shut, and her fingers tangled in his fur. He wanted to speak, but he felt breathless, so instead he just kept his arms around her, pulled her closer and buried his face in her hair. It smelled sweet, like honey, and he closed his eyes too.

They stayed like that for what felt like hours, just holding one another, savouring the feeling of being close. He didn't want to let her go this time, he wouldn't let her go if he could help it. Slowly his eyes opened and he looked down into her face, saw she was looking up at him and without thinking, he rolled over, so he was hovering above her body, and he looked down at her properly, considering everything.

He saw a beautiful young woman. Her body was shapely, beautiful and womanly, she looked every part an adult, and he drank the image in, taking in every small detail. Every freckle on her arms, how her collar bone dipper, the necklace glittering upon her chest, the sun and the moon lying side by side, seemingly glowing in the light. His eyes trailed up, and he smiled a little as his eyes met hers. Brown around the pupil, the same chocolate he'd seen shining in those orbs for years before now, then slowly the brown melted into gold, spreading to the edges of the iris, bright and warm and intense. They held such emotion, he couldn't read it properly, but there was something there. After all these years, he still couldn't read her like she could read him, and she was so much younger, but apparently so much more intuitive. Her overall expression was calm. Nora's lips were parted ever so slightly, her eyes gentle, and she smiled a little at him, and he smiled back... he couldn't help himself.

He remembered what North had told him... if he didn't get her now, he'd lose her forever. And he would... some other spirit would come and take her away. Frost always had a soft spot for her, and he scowled inwardly thinking about it. It hurt, it physically hurt, to think about her with someone else. He thought he would have been able to handle something like that but somewhere within him he'd already claimed her. That raw animal instinct he had always had that he buried deep down reared up – if only for a moment – and told him that the girl beneath him was his. He had to let her know now, or he'd forever be kicking himself. How had he looked at her these past months and seen a child? Yes, he'd seen her as a child, when she was younger, and he'd watched her grow.

But now, she didn't look anything like a child, she wasn't the same person she had been, she'd matured, she'd grown. She was a woman, and he could love her properly now. Pushing his guilt down, pushing all those little voices out of his head that told him this was wrong, he swallowed his pride and opened his mouth.

"I love you," he whispered, his voice catching a little on the way out, her heart thundering away as he awaited her reply. Then the voices he'd pushed out only seconds before came back and ran through his mind... perhaps she'd reject him now, as he'd hurt her those weeks ago. Would she hate him? Would she turn him away and force him out of her life? Wh-

His mind ground to a halt, his thoughts died, his body tensed and his eyes flew open wider than before. All because her arms were around his neck, and her lips were pressed fiercely against his, her eyes shut tight, and the smallest of blushes was spread across her cheeks. It took but a moment to overcome, and he returned the kiss passionately, holding her close to him, stroking her hair and sliding his other hand from between his shoulder blades to the square of her back, keeping her flush against him. Then he shifted, rolled onto his back again and pulled her atop him, feeling her weight against him, comfortable and warm. The kiss broke, after several moments, and she stared down at him, smiling widely, and he grinned back.

"I love you too," she told him quietly, brushing her fingers through the fur on his chest, feeling her heart thud away as his hand on her lower back kept her pressed flush against him.

"I'd never have guessed," Aster replied, a little sarcastically, but he smiled up at her and she merely tisked at him and rolled her eyes playfully. But then she looked at him again, her expression changed, seriousness flickered in her eyes, and the smiled slipped from her face.

"Do you mean it Aster?" she asked, looking really concerned. "Do you actually love me like... that... or do you see me as a child still? I don't want to get into anything if you're not... if you don't feel the same."

It broke his heart to hear her say that, and he felt terrible for what he'd done these past months. He couldn't put into words what he felt, so he only pulled her close to him, cuddled her, kissed her atop her head and stayed quiet. He didn't know what to say or do, but it seemed like it was enough for her, because she cuddled into him, and nodded her head ever so slightly.

"You're stupid," she muttered, but he could hear the smile in her voice, and he closed his eyes smiling with her.

"You're dumb," he replied, and she swatted him playfully before rolling sideways off him, lying beside him on the grass.

He took her hand in his, entwining their fingers gently and he just watched her as she closed her eyes and a contented smile drifted across her face, and it felt... right. Despite all his prior doubts, despite the fact that he'd been so hesitant before now and hadn't wanted to show his feelings for her because it felt wrong to, in his mind. Now the Pooka's heart ached because he'd been so close to letting her go, because he couldn't get past his mental block.

Her breathing slowed until he was sure she was sleeping, and slowly he stood up and bent over her, scooping her small frame into his arms before heading off to his nest. It took him a moment to position himself to jump the pond and keep her steady, and he managed it, she only murmured in her sleep, her nose scrunching up as he shifted her in his arms when he landed on the banks on the other side. Holding her tight, he slid down the rabbit hole and walked to the nest, laying her down in the soft grass, heather and lavender. She curled up on her side, looking very small, and he smiled a little before crawling into the nest beside her, curling around her, nuzzling her hair slightly, falling asleep himself.


	34. Chapter 34

This... is going to have to be the last one for a while. Probably a few days, but still a while by my standards xD

So I hope you enjoy, please check out my other fics 'Slave to Darkness' and then it's sequel 'Master of Darkness'. It'd be awesome.

I'll probably be updating MoD soon too :)

In this chapter I describe Manchester a bit. In detail. You might have guessed I'm a Manchester lass! I know it like the back of my hand!

Read and review! Enjoy

* * *

The sound of bombs echoed around her, and Eleanor clutched her staff to her chest as she walked down the streets, looking up at the sky where floodlights were aimed into clouds, showing the silhouettes of the German bombers as they let their traps open and dropped their bombs over the city of Manchester. She was stood by Victoria station, biting her lip as bombs hurtled towards the Earth.

It was December 24th 1940, and while she felt fear grip her for the people below who were running to shelters and for cover in the basements of larger buildings, her main concern was the other being up in the skies with the bombers, the one with six reindeer that should be pulling him over the skies right now. Her ears filled with screams as people ran about around below her at the train station and the explosions started, sending smoke furling into the sky and fires started lighting the city. Oranges and reds flared up around her, and she bit her lip as she leapt across the steel girders decorating the glass roof and skirting across the shelter built out over the platform. Jumping down onto the paved ground she jogged through the streets up to the tram, looking about as Piccadilly Bus Station exploded around the corner, and with a shriek she ducked under the foyer of the department store beside her to avoid the flying rubble and exploding glass. Breathing deeply she peeked out and looked down the main market street, trying to contain herself as she burst out from her hiding place and ran as fast as she could. She needed to stop some of the bombers before they went over Salford Precinct, where many families lived and a lot of students of the Royal Technical College stayed instead of going home for the holidays.

Picking up speed she burst into flame as another bomb whistled through the air and as a phoenix she soared upwards away from the explosion, weaving past another falling bomb and though her heart was thudding violently she rushed over to the precinct trilling as she rose up into the air on hot pursuit of a bomber plane. She levelled along the side of it, looking in at the shocked expression of the pilot as she latched her talons onto the wing of the plane and he lost control and she gathered herself, bursting into flames again, extending them beyond herself and around the plane. Suddenly the air changed, and she let go of the plane, looping around over Germany where she left him and transporting herself back through to Salford, repeating the action as many times as she could until the sun began to rise on Christmas day and the rest of the fleet retreated. Thoroughly exhausted, she glided down to look over the city, her heart jumping to her throat as smoke drifted over the city in the morning light. It was terrible to watch as the emergency services scattered among the city, rescuing people from buildings if they survived, removing the bodies of the poor people that hadn't.

She stayed there all day, either wandering the streets and trying to tame fires the fire brigade could not, or flying over the city and looking at the extent of the damage. Manchester Cathedral was badly damaged, the steeple collapsed and the side of the church still smoking slightly from the embers. It was sad to look at, but she was drawn to the area. It was midday when she felt very uneasy, and walked slowly through the streets looking about her, wondering what it was that was following her.

"I never expected to see you again," came a voice to her right, and she span around to see Pitch Black looking at her curiously, with a small smile on his face. Shocked, Eleanor reeled away from him and went to take the next available main street hoping she'd be able to escape. He followed though, almost exactly like a shadow and she shivered thinking about the fact that he was indeed like a shadow, shrouded in darkness and immersing himself in evil. He was just evil.

"You honestly can't feel such animosity towards me," he called, a hint of a laugh in his voice, and Eleanor seethed before whirling around, but he wasn't there. She stared for a moment, confused, before turning back around and coming face to face with him again, making her jump and hit out at him. He stayed quite placid, ignoring as her fist thumped against his chest, and he shook his head at her with somewhat of a bemused expression on his face. "If it weren't for me, your dear sister would have died in that building, and not you. Who's to say she would have come back as you have?"

She did resent him, she felt her heart thudding away at her ribcage as she stood with him, not wanting to be so close because she did feel scared of the man, and she knew he knew that. She couldn't have cared less though, she just wanted to escape somehow. However, she did acknowledge the fact that he was the reason she'd known where Mary had gone, had been able to follow her and save her. In a sense, she thought as a small smirk crept onto her face, he was an unsung hero. As her smile grew wider, the smile on his face faded.

"What?" he asked sharply, and she only beamed at him before she reached and linked her arm through his, turning him and leading him down the street.

"You're the reason I managed to save Mary!" she told him enthusiastically, and his expression soured a little. "You cared enough to do that, it's really sweet."

She knew her saying this aloud would annoy the man. He came across as the type to get really moody about things like that. He would have to come across the bad guy to keep up an image of the dark shadowy person he looked like. It was probable that he really was the nasty person he appeared to be, but he had helped her in the past, more than once too if she considered the time he'd stopped her falling from the tree during the Easter air raid, and she was conflicted in her opinion of him.

"I think you underestimate me," he said slowly, looking around the corner where a group of people were watching an ambulance man pull a body of a small child from the wreckage of a building. Eleanor felt her heart plummet and she watched on sadly as the mother of the child screamed and collapsed to her knees, so overcome with her grief she could not support herself. Glancing up to Pitch, she saw he looked apathetic to the situation, his eyes cold and his mouth a thin line.

"I strike fear into the hearts of people of the world," he said quietly, slowly. "That child fled to that building because of the fear he felt. I knew it would come down on him, but he was scared, and I didn't care."

She was quiet, and slowly removed her arm from his, casting her eyes up at him and shaking her head, disbelieving.

"You said that war created fear, but you wouldn't want everyone to die... if everyone dies, who would be left to be scared..."

He looked sideways at her, his eyes still cold and dark, his mouth still straight and thin.

"You find that as more people die, more people will become scared. It balances itself out."

"You..." she was lost for words, and as she stepped away from the man he smirked at her, rolling his eyes before closing them and shaking his head gently. She found her voice again after a moment, and she felt angry. "Do you not feel upset for the family? Upset because that little boy is dead now and you let him be?"

"How could I have stopped him, really?" Pitch spat, folding his arms defensively, glaring down at the Summer spirit.

"You could have guided him away! I can influence people sometimes... but you're more powerful, couldn't you have done something?" she pressed, squaring up to him.

"Oh please, Eleanor, I really don't care! I knew when you ran head first into your burning home that either you or Mary would perish, but the fear was delicious... at least from your sister... you were unnervingly calm. You always have been..." he'd lifted his hand and was drawing a finger along her jawline, which clenched as she took the information in. But it wasn't like she hadn't figured that out, in some deep recess of her mind. She knew Pitch had been there for a reason that night, had drawn out their meeting and dance as long as he physically could, but being in such a crowded place must have made him feel euphoric. It would be like his own personal drug, with so many people fleeing in fear and screaming for their loved ones, and then to send her chasing her sister into a burning building... she'd seen the fear in Mary's eyes as she'd burst into the room, but she'd never really paid much attention to it.

"You... did you send Mary after Roger?"she asked quietly, and she felt his hand land gently on her shoulder, and she looked up into his golden eyes and narrowed her own at him.

"No," he replied firmly and honestly, and again she was conflicted in her view of him because part of her wanted to punch him for enjoying the outright fear people felt before death crushed down on them, but she wanted to hug him for allowing her to save her little sister, even if it did cost her her own life.

"You're a strange person..." she muttered, shrugging his hand off and crossing her arms over her chest defensively before she wandered to the next street where smoke was drifting upwards.

"How so?" he asked, and she heard the smile in his voice. She amused him, she though bitterly. She was nothing more than entertainment to him, and she hated him again.

"You come across as this terrible being who wants fear to rule, to be so prominent that it makes you more powerful," she noted, and he nodded along.

"Of course," he quipped, and she rolled her eyes and shot him a filthy look.

"But when it comes to people dying, though you take this stance that the fear grows with death, you genuinely did try to help me that night all those years ago. Or you tried to help one of us."

"I think I helped you both," he said quietly, his bright eyes narrowing. "Mary kept her life, you were able to save her. Win win."

"Besides the fact that I died," she shot, finding herself smirking a little.

"Well, it's only a minor setback," he replied equally as sarcastically. She was shocked to find herself building a repertoire with the man, the comments flowing between them with such ease, even if they were filled with sarcasm. He was the stark opposite of herself. She was the embodiment of Summer, which was bright and warm and happy. Pitch Black brought nightmares, sadness, darkness and misery with him. She enjoyed the company of people, sharing in their laughter. He was a loner, hiding in the shadows and feeding from their fears.

"You see yourself as above me?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous. She looked up and his face was set, jaw clenched, eyes narrowed angrily. He'd read her mind.

"Not you personally," she said quietly, honestly. "Just your methods."

"They're practical," he snapped, and Eleanor shook her head at him, not accepting that from him.

"They're cruel," she retorted, and Pitch scowled at her.

"What would you know? You've been around little over ten years, you don't understand this."

Apparently she'd hit a nerve, and as he walked off down the street she sighed and walked after him, jogging a little to catch up with him before she was striding alongside him, looking up into his sour face.

"Did I upset you?" she asked, reaching for his arm and touching him lightly. He jerked away and gave her a look full of contempt, but he stopped in his tracks, and she looked up at him curiously.

"I do what I do, because it gets me noticed. Not that I'd expect you to understand. You don't know what it is to be cast out, not be believed in..."

She heard a twinge of sadness in his voice, genuine sadness, and she felt sorry for him. Of course she was accepted by the Guardians, she couldn't not be seeing as she and Aster had developed the relationship they had... but she knew what it was not to be believed in, for people to walk through her like she was air, not even noticing her gasp of breath as it shocked her through, not noticing as she whirled around and looked at them, calling out to them, pleading with them, anyone, someone to see her. She didn't voice it, but he knew. His expression softened and they shared a moment of silence.

"People hate me," he whispered, and she looked up at him, his expression stony, but his eyes expressing desperation, a need for her to understand him and his motives. "But they believe in fear... you can't kill fear."

Eleanor cast her eyes away from his face and looked down a small ally where an ambulance crew were zipping up body bags. She saw the dead eyes of a girl who couldn't have been much older than herself. Watched as a mother rocked a baby in her arms, but the baby didn't cry out, didn't move or gurgle. One of the young men approached her slowly, crouched beside her and prised the baby from her arms, and Eleanor felt her heart break as she realised the baby had died. How, she wouldn't know, probably smoke inhalation, but despite having seen this a lot she couldn't stop the tears springing to her eyes.

"Apparently you can, Pitch," she whispered, turning her teary eyes to look back at him, his brow furrowed, a look of deep thought passing across his features. "Is this kind of fear really the way to become noticed?"

She turned from him, jogging before she burst into flame and rose upwards, unable to stay there any longer, she concentrated and in a flurry of sparks and ash she was swooping down into the Warren, transforming again and landing on the grass, only to curl up and sob.


	35. Chapter 35

Okay everyone, I've decided to work on a few more chapters of 'Master of Darkness' which is my sequel to 'Slave to Darkness'. If you haven't already checked it out I'd really appreciate it if you did, and dropping a review wouldn't go amiss either ;)

**A WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER!**

Sort of, anyways. It contains some suggestive themes. And some sexual themes. I'm sorry. It's still classed as rating T because it's only suggested, not full blown literotica xD

Enjoy?

* * *

He'd darted about the Warren all day looking for Eleanor, but no matter where he went and looked, she wasn't there. Part of him hoped she was keeping to herself, but the Pooka new she would be tailing bomber planes and trying to help in disaster zones across Britain. He was looking over one of the rivers, through the long grass and bluebells when he saw her curled up into a tight foetal position, her shoulders shaking as she cried.

Aster gaped and jumped forwards onto the large stepping stones until he reached the soft grass and bound forward to Eleanor's side. He touched her shoulder gently, and when she didn't respond the rabbit simply gathered her up into his arms and held her close. He didn't know what could have left her in such a state, but he wanted to find out... he wanted to stop her crying.

"Darlin', what's wrong?" he asked gently, holding her in his arms as she grumbled and buried her face into the soft downy fur of his chest. "What happened?"

The brunette sniffled a little, pulling away and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand before sinking into his embrace, one of her arms lifting weakly so she could tangle her fingers in his fur

"The Nazi's blitzed Manchester," she huffed, ignoring how he stiffened.

"You're meant to be in the South," he muttered, knowing very well that she'd go to help as many people as she physically could, despite it being Summer on the Southern hemisphere.

As he suspected she ignored that comment and sighed at him, turning her head away to look out over the vast valley below them. Her golden-brown eyes scanned over the treetops and trailed over every river, stream and pond. He knew the sheer size of the Warren amazed her, it was like a whole world beneath the surface of Australia, but fashioned so no human could ever find it alone.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said quietly but firmly, avoiding eye contact. Aster knew what she'd seen must have been horrible for her, horrible for anyone. If Manchester was blitzed she would have most likely seen death, and that which troubled her most was the death of children. It hurt them all, naturally. It was an absolute gut wrenching feeling waking up one morning and seeing a few hundred lights had vanished across Europe. Each of the Guardians felt useless in times of war like these, helpless to stop it and unable to do much besides continue as they had been doing – bring Easter and Christmas across the globe, restoring sweet dreams and happy memories, but there was only so much they could do.

"Come on sunflower," he coaxed gently, tilting her chin upwards a little to kiss her nose, and she turned the cutest shade of pink. Even after twelve years of being together she still blushed, and it made him incredibly happy that she did. He had been so close to losing her, so close to telling her it could never happen between them – because at first he hadn't been able to get over the fact that he'd watched her grow up, seen her develop from an ankle-biter and it had almost ruined everything. It wasn't even that he had known her as a child and watched her grow. It was more the fact that he was unable to see her for the woman she was now, the beaut she'd grown into. He had North to thank for their relationship. If the older Guardian hadn't told him to go for it – even if he had explained it so simplistically – Aster didn't reckon he'd be even half as happy as he was now.

Eleanor slipped quietly from his lap as he was thinking, and the Pooka suddenly felt very displeased at her moving, the fur on his back bristling slightly though he had no idea why it did and he tried his hardest to calm his nerves, but everything seemed hyper sensitive. They both stood up and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him and kissing her passionately on the lips. She sighed and melted into him, her arms snaking their way up and around his neck. He loved kissing her, having her so close. She had the strangest but most alluring smell, like burning lavender – warm and sweet – and her lips always tasted like blackcurrents.

The Pooka felt her break the kiss to breath deeply while he was busy musing and he growled a little, feeling suddenly possessive, his ears flattening against the back of his head and his emerald eyes narrowing into slits as he kept her held flush against him. She looked up at him wide shocked eyes, as it was very rare for him to become so possessive over her, especially when she had no idea why he would have to be. But she also felt her stomach flutter with butterflies and though breathless she let him capture her lips again in another fierce kiss. Her eyelids closed slowly but after what could have only been a second she felt him pull away from her, and she opened her eyes wide to look at him, confusion written plainly across her face. His arms dropped form her waist to his sides, and she saw he looked completely embarrassed, and slightly ashamed.

"Nora, I'm sorry," he said quickly, taking a small step away form her. He'd lost it, somehow she'd evoked some animal instinct within him and he'd just lost it. He'd managed to regain his senses, but he was having a hard time pushing that instinct down as she reached out and touched his arm. Even that innocent action caused him to shudder, and he realised he wanted her, but in a way he'd not before. In a way they hadn't even discussed before, and he felt horrified and disgusted with himself.

He went to move away but she grabbed hold of his arm and held on tightly, not letting him run away from her.

In all honesty, Eleanor felt a little shocked by his actions; the way he'd growled low in his throat when she'd moved away from him, how he'd held on to her tighter, how his eyes had darkened with some emotion she'd never seen before, because she'd never been close enough to a man for him to show that kind of... want.

"Why are you sorry?" she asked gently, but Aster couldn't answer her, he felt too badly about how he had acted and he wanted to just leave and calm himself down. He looked pleadingly into her golden-brown eyes, but there was confusion in those orbs and she wouldn't let him go until she new what it was that was making him act so oddly. Taking a breath, he gathered up what was left of his vocabulary.

"I'm sorry for how I just acted."

His voice seemed lower, huskier, and he cursed himself mentally as he tried to get away. He felt like he was caught in a trap, but it was one he'd made himself and he had no idea how to get out of it seeing as Eleanor lived here with him. She was his partner, and he shouldn't really keep secrets from her, but this feeling he suddenly had wasn't right, and he couldn't let her now about it.

But Eleanor was grinning at him coyly. The girl was ever intuitive, and she seemed to know when he was thinking something different and more often than not, what it was he was thinking. It wasn't as if he hadn't given her enough signs; he'd held her so close only moments before, and had reverted to base animalistic wants and needs for the briefest of moments. She knew what he wanted, but she also understood he would be conflicted about it. If there was something her Aster always seemed to be, it was conflicted.

"Talk to me," she said softly, her grip on his arm firm but gentle, so she knew he wouldn't run away. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing flower," he said, almost a little too quickly, and she noticed the glint in his eye as she took a step closer to him.

"Aster, you're not telling me something," she chuckled, hopping towards him and wrapping her arms around his torso before he had chance to jitter away. She knew outwardly she looked seventeen, but every year she was getting older. Save the ten years she'd basically not existed, she'd grown and experienced more, and thought about different things. Of course she'd thought about Aster in more ways than she'd ever let on. He was her partner, they would hold one another and kiss and cuddle, but that always seemed to be it. Of course she understood their anatomic differences, but she'd be damned if that was what pushed her and her Pooka apart now.

Aster stared at her, dumbfounded. What could he really say to her now, when she had already clued onto what was going on. With a groan he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her cheek with his nose.

"Just thinking about some stuff love, I don't mean to... be like this," he muttered, and she heaved a sigh as she untangled herself from his embrace and took his hand.

"I don't mind," she said gently, leading him slowly down the hillside to the heart of the Warren, leading him back to the nest he realised with a start, his heart skipping a beat. "I really don't mind," she reinforced, and he felt that base instinct rise in him again, and he moved forward quickly and grabbed her, picked her up and carried her bridal style the rest of the way, slipping down the rabbit hole and laying her down on the nest, hovering over her.

"You sure, sunflower?" he asked quietly, his hands trailing over her collar bone, making her shiver, and she nodded quietly at him, before she pulled him down and kissed him sweetly.

* * *

Eleanor was curled tightly into his side, her face buried in the crook of his neck and she was breathing gently as she dozed off slightly in his arms. He'd never seen anything so beautiful, in his opinion, and for the last twelve years he'd woken up with the young spirit by his side and every day he had fallen in love with her all over again. But this... this was different. Now she was his completely, and he was hers, and everything in his mind; every doubt he'd ever had, every second thought and second guess – they were all driven out by the sight of his love curled into him, so peaceful and so trusting.

He couldn't help but love her more and more, with every second she spent with him.

"Sunflower?" he whispered, and she mumbled a little before opening her sleepy eyes and gazing up at him, smiling slightly, and her golden-brown orbs twinkled in the minimal light there was.

"Yeah?" she asked, shifting slightly so she could get a better look at him.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked gently, his hand raising up and cupping her cheek. "Being... with me and all?"

She looked a bit shocked by his question, astounded that he would ask her if she was really sure about everything. Of course she was. She'd loved him her entire life, one way or another, and she couldn't see herself being with anyone else like she was with him now, safe in his arms, feeling loved and cherished. She only ever wanted to be with him.

"Of course I am," she replied, leaning in and pressing her nose to his, sending shivers down her spine as she connected with the cool skin. "I wouldn't want anything else."

"You sure?" he asked, his eyes sliding closed as he relished the moment.

"You can bet your Nelly on it," she chuckled, and he laughed along with her, pulled her close and hugging her into his chest.

"There's one thing," he started, the laugh ebbing from his voice and he became much more serious again. He could tell she was listening, the way her body went still over his, and how she seemed to hold her breath. "There's... Pooka, when they find a- a mate, they mark their mate. It's nothing really, nothing bad, it's just something we do so others know you're taken. It's like... you just-"

"Instinct?" she whispered, and he nodded, thankful she understood and he didn't have to keep floundering around for some explanation. He felt stupid already. She was shifting slightly on him so she could look at him again, and her expression was very gentle, very loving. He felt at ease already.

"Yeah," he agreed quietly, stroking her hair back from her eyes gently. She smiled at him and laid her head back down on his chest, and slowly the Pooka rested his chin upon her head, marking her with his scent. It only took a second, it would be nothing big to anyone else, but in himself, the mere fact that she let him to it was enough to put his whole world at ease.


	36. Chapter 36

So I'm working on one too many projects. I'm not updating anything again until I have seven chapters of each of my newer stories, so as I'm up to three with each that means I have another eight to write. So it should be fun :)

Until then, enjoy.

And we're nearly at 200 reviews! Help me out guys :D

* * *

Eleanor could barely contain her excitement as she bound through the snowy woods to the pond she knew Jack frequented. They'd been the best of friends for the last twelve years, despite the fact that they were so different. She was Summer and he was Winter, she had the most terrible temper sometimes whereas he was always quite relaxed and calm. Eleanor found she was more open to making new friends and starting new relationships with people, whereas Jack – despite his cheerful and outgoing personality – could be very antisocial. But they had their similarities too. They both loved the snow, which surprised Jack, because she was the Summer spirit, they could both be quite mischievous, they both loved having fun and they could both be very giddy. Both spirits were kind and caring, they watched over children most of all, ensuring they were all enjoying themselves – Eleanor by making it warm and sunny and the perfect time to play outdoors or go to the beach, Jack by providing enough snow for snowball fights, sledging and to make snowmen.

And she would tell him everything... within reason... so when she reached the ponds edge and looked about the treetops for him, she was a bit disappointed she didn't see him there.

"Jack?" she called, looking around and sighing, hugging her staff close to her and drawing heat from it. She was about to wander around and look for him in the town of Burgess, but she didn't have to because somebody covered her eyes from behind her, blowing freezing cold air down her neck.

"Guess who?" the silver haired boy chuckled, and she squealed as she pulled away from him, turning sharply and going to hit out at him with her staff, but he was quick and deflected it with his own, and they turned it into a sword fight, laughing as they parried one another, darting in and trying to jab the other in the stomach, gently though. She almost had him, but he twirled away, turning his staff so he could hook her feet with the crook of it and pull her sharply so she landed with a thump in the snow behind her, gasping.

"Jack!" she screamed, picking herself up quickly and dusting herself off, before eyeing the boy and lunging for him, taking him by surprise and knocking him down into the snow, the two of them tumbling together until they stopped, wrestling with one another.

"Somebody's in a good mood!" Jack laughed, smiling his usual wide lopsided grin, his icy eyes sparkling. "Care to tell me what's new?" he added as he flipped her over and pinned her down, her arms splayed out wide and he straddled her so she couldn't boot him off her.

"Yeah, okay," she panted, worn out from their tussle and he rolled sideways off her, making himself comfortable at her side and he took her hand in his, their fingers twining together. They always held hands, it was natural to them.

"Go on then," he pried, after she spent a moment pondering how to put it into words, and she swatted his arm, rolling her eyes at him.

"I'm officially Aster's," she said finally, and he coed an eyebrow at her, looking bemused.

"As opposed to the last twelve years when you weren't?" he joked, and she laughed, shaking her head.

"No, Jack, I'm officially _his_," she pressed, and the teen looked at her before it dawned on him and his jaw dropped.

"Since when?" he cried, pushing himself up onto his knees, looking both thrilled for her and shocked.

"Since yesterday," she tisked poking him in the stomach and he pushed back, balancing his weight on his toes before he sat down in the snow, facing her.

"How?" he asked, and when she gave him a slightly reproaching look he shook his head. "No, I don't want to know the nitty-gritty details, just... how did it come about?"

Eleanor pushed herself up onto her elbows and frowned, biting her lip as she thought about it. In all honesty Aster's demeanour had changed some last night, she'd seen a side to him then that she never had before. Not that it was bad, she just saw a different side to him was all. They'd wanted the same thing, and after him marking her she was officially his. Not that the marking would have much significance to anyone else, as she knew it was a scent he left on her that was undetectable to anyone else besides Pooka. But it put him at ease, made him happier and she wouldn't have anyone else, so she was more than happy for him to do it. She loved him, so it made sense.

"It just... happened, I suppose. It's been long enough, hasn't it?" she giggled, and Jack laughed in response, agreeing. But then his expression changed and he looked at her concerned and stern, like an older brother.

"He's not going to do anything to hurt you, is he?" he asked, and she shook her head quickly, knowing Aster would never do that to her, especially not now.

"No, he marked me," she explained, but she saw confusion flicker across his eyes and she realised she'd have to go a little more in depth than that, and she told him all about how Pooka – and she suspected other rabbits – would leave their scent on their mates and their territory so others would know they were taken. It was a possessive thing, but it also meant that no matter what she would be his, and he would be hers. It was just the way of the world, and she was fine with that.

"Ah... so for the rest of eternity you're stuck with Bunny?" he asked, and he blew out a lungful of air, watching it condensate in front of him. "Sure you're okay with that?" he joked, grinning, and she rolled her eyes at him, nodding enthusiastically. "I wouldn't be, he's a bit of a hard head."

"He thinks the world of you too, Jack," Eleanor replied sarcastically. Jack only winked at her, his blue eyes glinting cheekily at her. In some ways, the boy reminded her an awful lot of George. The had so many likenesses. Jack had adopted the role of an older brother to her. He had done for years, even before she was a spirit, when he helped her through the woods when she was alone, hugged her as best he could that night she felt alone and worried about George being away in the army. He teased her something rotten sometimes, and there was once or twice she and the Winter spirit had come to loggerheads and had the worst arguments conceivable, so bad Aster would stay away from her for a few days to avoid her wrath. But they always made it up with a hug and some kind words, promising never to argue like that again, but knowing they would. Siblings always did, and she honestly considered the boy a brother to herself. She loved him like one.

"So when are you becoming missus Bunnymund?" he asked, and she sat up properly then and shoved him backwards, leaving him chuckling to himself. She would have replied, but someone else did it for her.

"She's as good as mate, just without the title," and then Eleanor felt warm arms wrap around her, and she tilted her chin up to look into those evergreen eyes she loved so much, and she leaned back to kiss his nose, leaving him grinning.

"Really?" she asked quietly, feeling a small thrill burst through her.

"Yeah, unless you want the title?" he asked, and she considered it for a minute but shook her head, leaning her body back so she was pressed against his chest, ignoring Jack for a moment while they talked things out.

"No, I think we're best taking it one step at a time," she whispered gently, her hand reaching up and brushing against his cheek, and he nodded down at her, smiling anyway.

"Like I said, you're as good as, just without the title," he told her, then leaned in and kissed her chastely.

"Get a room?" Jack suggested, making retching sounds, doubling over in his play act, and Eleanor watched as Aster shot him a contemptuous look, and felt him hold onto her a little tighter, so she rubbed his arm, trying to soothe him.

"I intend to," Aster shot back, smirking, and Jack merely rolled his eyes, bid Eleanor goodbye, and left them, letting the wind carry him upwards and away.

"Do you really intend to?" the Summer spirit asked, biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from grinning too widely. Aster noticed though, and laughed as he stooped to kiss her again, a little harder this time, there was more want behind the kiss, more need.

"Maybe later," he said, his voice husky again, and she shoved him playfully before standing up and sighing.

"Maybe not, as it happens I need to go sort Summer out in Australia, make sure they have the best waves on the beaches for over Christmas and all that," she winked at him, and he stood up, yawning. "You have to go and start planning for Easter too. Christmas has come and gone, it's your turn next," she reminded him, and she reached forward with her arms, sliding her fingers through the soft fur on his chest, up through the long fur on his shoulders and brushing the tangles out before wrapping her arms around his neck, and he looped one arm around her waist, pulling her stomach and hips close to him, while his other arm slung over her shoulders, hugging her close to him.

"I love you, sunflower," Aster whispered, pressing his cold nose to her forehead and kissing her nose.

"I love you too," Eleanor whispered in reply, tilting her head up so her lips locked with his, and they stayed there for a small while, wrapped up in the moment, before they had to break for air. "I need to go now," she muttered, and he nodded a little before pulling away from her, casting her one last longing look before she burst into flame and rose into the air as a phoenix.


	37. Chapter 37

I know I said I wouldn't post until I'd reached my chapter targets (which I haven't) but my boyfriend just dumped me over the phone. So I'm cheering myself up :)

What gets me is five days ago I meant the world to him.

Today he phoned me up to tell me he couldn't deal with my depression, or the fact he still texts his exes in 'secret', or me asking why he's with me because for years I've been made to feel like shit - so obviously I've wondered why anyone would want to be with me.

He phoned me up to dump me thus proved my point.

But screw him! If he loved me as much as he let on he did, then he'd at least try to help me past my insecurities! If I meant the world then he wouldn't just give up on us.

If that's what he thinks then fine, I'll leave him to it, because I'm worth millions of him, and I'm going to find someone who is so utterly amazing, loves me for me and can handle me at my worst, so he'll deserve me at my best.

If anything, him dumping me has made me stronger. He's actually done me a huge favour :)

and now I've ranted, enjoy the chapter :D

* * *

Bondi always made her smile. Everyone seemed so happy, and here on the coast of Australia on one of the most popular beaches, people seemed to let their troubles slip away. The worst thing that could happen was that you would nose dive and take a tumble in the surf. She'd warmed the currents so the ocean churned a little, not too much though, and it provided the surfers with the waves they so desired.

She spent a long while watching them, and though she longed to smile and be happy, her heart weighed heavy... she couldn't tear her thoughts away from the blitz on Manchester, and she stood, sighing, and burst into the air, taking herself over to the city she'd only left the day before.

As she soared over it, drinking in the sight of boxing day, where children should have been out on the streets laughing and playing on their new bicycles or hitting the hoops down the street, chasing them as fast as they could, or throwing balls to one another, or enjoying snowball fights...

It was quiet. Deathly so.

As she dropped through the air, she changed again and landed gently on the path before a news agents, looking at the papers to try and determine how badly the city had been affected.

Six-hundred and eighty four people were dead. Over two thousand injured, and more still being brought forward... Her mind conjured up the images of the dead children, of the girl no older than herself... she'd died in a building, exactly as Eleanor had done. Would that girl get a second chance too? Why would she not be chosen? And she wondered briefly about God... seeing as she'd been reborn as a spirit, does that mean she'd been forsaken by God? She'd always been a strong believer, always went to church and sat through the services and sang the hymns. She'd always prayed and been good. Why hadn't she been chosen to go to heaven? The only reason she could think of was that she had unfinished business on this earth, but if that was so, then why had she died? Surely being alive and being able to influence people more strongly would have been the better option?

How was being invisible to the masses going to help anyone?

Gritting her teeth, she crumpled the paper she'd taken hold of in her hands and tossed it to the floor, storming away angrily.

All her life people had told her to have faith in God, to believe in him, but then they had thought her a loon for believing in her Guardians! What was the difference? Her parents hadn't ever seen either of the beings, not God nor the Guardians, but she had. What made God so special that he could demand people believe in him without significant proof, whereas Aster and North and Tooth merely hoped people would believe, and did their best by those who did. Gave them physical evidence that they were there and watching over them.

She'd never been sure how one man in the sky could be so omnipotent, omniscient and omni-benevolent that he could demand belief just like that. Whereas the ones she'd grown up knowing, and trusting and believing were flawed in their own ways, weren't perfect and possibly couldn't fix everything, but they always tried their hardest.

Her stomach clenched as she realised she'd lost her faith in God a long time ago, she just hadn't realised it...

"Internal conflict is always too dramatic," came a drawling voice, and she turned to see Pitch staring at her, leaning on a half destroyed brick wall , and he had the smallest smirk on his face.

"Will you just shove off?" she muttered, turning on her heel and walking away, through the streets trying to ignore the destruction around her, the families out on the street trying to light fires in old steel barrels. She took pity on one young woman with a small child and walked to the barrel, blowing slightly on the dying embers so the flames rose and flickered again, heat washing through them all.

"You're definitely not as polite as you used to be. I remember the first time you saw me, you called me 'sir'" he laughed, still behind her, following her down the street. She seethed and tried to ignore him, but she could feel his eyes fixed on her, and she whirled around, glaring daggers.

"Pitch, what do you want?" she asked, her voice hissing through her teeth as she spoke to him, but he didn't answer, his eyes only closed slowly, and he seemed to savour the moment. She could feel herself getting worked up, because in all honesty she wanted to leave and go home, but she wondered if he would follow. "Why are you so fixated on me?" she asked, her voice now low and pleading, and at this his eyes snapped open and he fixed her with one long gaze.

"You have been the only child in the last hundred years that didn't pass my existence off as nothing more than a bad dream. Your sister may have been the first to see me, but she thought she was in a nightmare that day, not consciousness. You saw me, knew me, and you believed..."

"So I'm your first believer?" she asked, her golden-brown eyes narrowing in confusion. "What about it?"

"You wouldn't understand, as nobody believes in you," he muttered, and she felt his words stick daggers through her heart, and she winced visibly. His eyes softened at this and he reached forward, his long cold fingers tracing the line of her jaw, sending terrible chills through her and making her shudder. Her eyes stayed open though and fixed on his bright orbs. She was staring coldly at him, hurt coursing through her as his fingers trailed then down her neck, brushing across her collar bone before sliding sideways and resting on her shoulder.

She understood what he meant though. It seemed different now she was a spirit. She'd gone from people seeing her and talking to her and everything being normal to not being seen or heard, people passing through her like she was a breath of wind. She could only imagine actually being seen by someone, how she would probably develop a fondness for them. Pitch must have felt the same.

But it didn't excuse his behaviour, or the way he treated her. She understood that he had helped her many times before, understood her in a way she supposed Aster wouldn't, because he was the Easter Bunny, and he had been believed in for centuries. She wasn't even half a century into being a spirit, and she already felt lonely. She was glad she had Jack, because she honestly didn't know how she'd have coped if he wasn't there. She felt a pang of sadness for the Winter spirit, because she'd known he'd been around just over two hundred years now, and he'd not even been thought of as existing before her. She didn't really know if anyone else had believed in him, but he'd certainly taken a shining to her.

Just as Pitch had.

With a frustrated sigh she pushed Pitch's hand off her shoulder and went to walk away, but the Nightmare King was faster, and he had caught her by the wrist before she could even take two steps. Shutting her eyes tight she tried to keep her calm, breathing deeply as she turned and looked into those sad golden eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice gentle and calm, and his grip around her wrist loosened a little.

"I don't understand why you care so much about these people, when they care so little for you," he told her, his voice low and curious, like it had been all those years ago when she's first met him in the woods, when he'd caught her and stopped her falling from the tree as she'd gone to rescue Mary. It unnerved her, how interested he seemed in her, but she couldn't stop his curiosity. It was an innate thing she was going to feel.

"They do care for me," she told him, slipping out of his grasp and turned to face him properly. "They care about Summer, wait for it all year because then they get to spend more time with their families, having fun, being together. Summer symbolises unity and family... so they really do care for me, although it's indirect."

The look on Pitch's face was one of scepticism and mild confusion, although to her it made perfect sense. It was a bit disheartening when she heard people say that they couldn't wait for Summer to come, but they always thought it just happened, it was just there... they never realised she worked tirelessly to make it just the right temperature, to bring a balance between hot days and colder days, or when the sun should shine brilliantly, or when the skies should pour a warm rain down on the people below. It was a lot of work, and she was still getting used to it, but nobody ever considered that there was somebody working hard to bring the happiness, and it made her sad.

"You give people too much credit," Pitch said quietly, and Eleanor noticed how his eyes had narrowed into slits. "You get upset at people not noticing the work you do? Well they're never going to notice, and you realised that a long time ago, but you're _scared_ to admit it. You're _scared_ that people will never see you again and you'll spend the rest of eternity wandering, tying to make people happy so that they may see you. You're _scared_ that all of your efforts will go to waste, and you'll be left to stand invisible in the shadows like _me_. You're _scared_ that you'll never find out what made you so special, so that you would come back and non of the other thousands of children that die every day."

Eleanor found herself backing away from the Nightmare King, wanting to shut his words out and turn and run, but she couldn't... because they were her words. Her thoughts and feelings... she couldn't escape herself. Pitch grabbed her arm and pushed her into the wall behind her, her back flat against the bricks, his chest barely an inch from hers, his hands holding her arms back so she physically couldn't move, and her staff dropped from her hand, clattering against the pavement.

"If there's one thing I know, it's fear. And you have many of them... so let me put some of them to rest. Like me, and your precious Jack Frost, nobody will ever see you. Oh, they'll imagine there may be some higher being controlling everything, they'll say things such as 'Jack Frost will nip at your nose', and 'the boogeyman hides under your bed', but they strike you off as nothing more than a myth, a wives tale. You'll never be seen, never be heard, never be appreciated... you'll be just like me."

"I'll never be like you," the brunette hissed, shoving her bodyweight against Pitch, leaving him to take a step backwards but he held on tightly to her, glaring down, until he felt something jab in his back.

"Come on, let the girl go," said a cocky voice, and both pairs of golden eyes turned to look into cool blue ones, and Eleanor grinned because Jack was there.

"Oh, if it isn't Frost! Are we having a mothers' meet on those who feel inferior to other beings?"

"Just let her go, she's done nothing to you," Jack said, shaking his head in mild frustration. He couldn't be bothered dealing with Pitch's rambling today, he wanted to make sure Eleanor was okay. He'd heard half the conversation and it seemed like he was bullying the girl into believing something that he hoped wasn't true. He'd not been seen in so long, and he knew how it felt, but he really wanted Eleanor to be seen.

"Fine," Pitch said, and he let her arms go then and there, and she stooped quickly to grab her staff, holding it close to her. "I'll be going then."

The man seemed to melt into the shadows, just disappear, and he was gone, leaving the two season spirits stood there pondering things over. Eleanor was staring at the ground, her mind reeling as she tried to think of everything Pitch had said, trying to make sense of it all and wonder if he was right... would she never be seen? Would she be ignored for eternity?

"Was he right?" she whispered, looking up at Jack who was stood there awkwardly. He sighed, cocking his head as he tried to think of any way he could put the words that wouldn't reinforce what Pitch had just said, but he couldn't.

"I don't know," he replied honestly, before he reached forward and touched her arm gently. "I really don't." She smiled bitterly at him, her hand reaching up and touching his, returning the comforting gesture.

"Least I have you," she said with a hint of a chuckle, and he rolled his eyes.

"Poor you!" the silver haired boy cried, and the pair of them burst out laughing before Eleanor moved in and hugged him, her head pressed against the crook of his neck. They both went very serious then, and he touched her back gently, his fingers tracing invisible patterns.

"I hate not being seen," she muttered. "How do you cope?"

"I... I just have fun," the boy replied, hugging the girl he considered a sister in earnest before pushing her away gently so he could get a look at her face. "Now, we can either get you home to your kangaroo, or you can stay here and have a snowball fight?"

"To be honest," she grinned, a mischievous look glinting in her eye, "I've always wanted to see it snow in the Warren."


	38. Chapter 38

I am sorry I haven't posted in a while. I'm getting over my ex. He's a prick.

It took him two days after breaking up with me for him to join a dating website. I know how to pick em, right? ;D

Kind of makes me want a North. I love the man, he'd be my huggle bear and he'd not treat me like shit and expect me to be alright with it

So I got an uber haircut, I have a pixie now, and I got a new tattoo :D

'hope is a thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all'

* * *

"Oh struth, where did this come from?" Aster asked himself, looking over the Warren in complete shock. There was one field, just one, that was completely covered in snow. A mountain of it. In the midst of all the green grass and the flowers he'd grown over the centuries, the hydrangeas and the daffodils, lilies and bluebells and heather and lavender... contrasting the the fresh green leaves of the trees and the soft pink cherry blossoms, there was a field of snow. And it only meant one thing.

Frost.

He had no idea how the blighter got in, but he wouldn't be staying for long. Jumping down from the rock he'd perched on, the Pooka started forward, his legs moving faster as he picked up speed, and in what was no time he'd gone from feeling the soft grass on the pads of his feet to freezing snow. He hated snow, it was just too cold.

"Frost!" he shouted, standing up tall on his hind legs and looking around for the silver haired trouble maker. He'd give him a good clip round the ear for this one. It was when he turned to his left he received a face full of snow, and tumbled over backwards in shock, barely able to open his eyes for the white powder in them. Anger flowed through him then. "I'm gonna kill you, ya little ice monkey," he seethed, and when he felt hands on him he just grabbed the person there and flipped them over, pushing them back into the snow while he sat atop them.

But he wasn't looking down into ice blue eyes, he was staring into golden-brown ones, and he started as Eleanor looked up at him, shocked and scared as he scowled down.

"I'm sorry," she squeaked, her hands in fists, arms tucked tight against her chest in a defensive manner, her body stiff as she waited to see what her partner would do. But Aster only stared down at her blankly, unsure what to do himself. He'd been so angry because he'd been sure it was Frost who threw the snowball at him that he hadn't thought, but now he realised it was Eleanor he just didn't mind. So slowly he stood upright, moved his right foot over her body so he was stood to her right properly and he bent down to pick her up, feeling his ears flatten on their own accord as he felt quite embarrassed.

"Sorry darlin'," he muttered, his hand inching towards the back of his neck as he tried to hide his awkwardness, and he cast his evergreen eyes over her, looking how she was still awfully tense as she stood in front of him, and how her eyes kept flickering from his face to something behind him. He already knew what it was, and he turned to see Frost stood there, looking at a loss for what to do.

"I take it you made it snow here?" he asked, his chest puffing out and his arms crossing over in front of him, a scowl setting across his face. Jack gaped and looked about him, floundering for an explanation, but he felt hands tangle in the fur on his upper arm and he looked down to see Eleanor staring up at him, her golden eyes soft and pleading.

"I asked him to make it snow, because it's Christmas and I never get snow any more," she said gently, her hand rubbing his arm in small soothing circles, and his eyes drooped a little as his body relaxed. She had him wrapped around her little finger, and as much as he himself hated snow, he couldn't bring himself to say no to her. So instead he let out a soft groan, unfolded his arms and wrapped them around her torso, hugging her close as he nuzzled her hair.

"Okay then," he said quietly, not wanting Frost to know what he had said, and she beamed up at him, her arms shooting around his neck and pulling him close for her to press her lips against his, kissing him passionately. They both closed their eyes and melted into it, but a cough brought them back to reality.

"You know, I can go?" Jack jeered, a large smirk on his face, "while you two seem busy."

"Yeah, why don't you?" Aster muttered, but Eleanor laughed loudly and slapped his upper arm in a reprimanding sort of way, and he knew it wouldn't happen. He'd have to put up with Frost for as long as Eleanor wanted him to. He understood their relationship was completely platonic, that they were like siblings to one another, and fought with one another and hugged and held hands to run about like they were little kids (and sometimes they got as excited as ankle biters would, and it made him smile watching them lose their heads, but he'd never admit it) but he felt a little jealous. Jack's relationship with Eleanor was something completely different to his, had had her love in a completely different way. He knew she would find him and they would talk for hours, and he understood their connection, why they were so close. Jack had looked out for her in her youth, because he knew she was so close to the Guardians. Aster couldn't fault him for that. They both had the issue where they just weren't believed in, and they connected on that, it bonded them deep and emotionally.

But he felt a pang of jealousy every time Eleanor threw her arms around the Winter spirit, or when Jack held her close and span her around, toppling over to the ground to wrestle.

It was stupid, but it was that small voice in the back of his head that he just couldn't reason with. The same one that had risen up the night he'd claimed his little spirit as his own.

Eleanor now was skipping over to Jack, her staff in her hand which melted a long line in the snow as she dragged it across the ground. The Pooka sat on his hind legs then, crouching low and watching the two of them from a distance. Eleanor wondered why Aster was being so antisocial and critical of Jack, but she was curious about something and she wanted to try something out.

"Jack?" she asked, standing on her tiptoes in front of him, grinning coyly.

"What?" he asked, leaning back on his heels, his staff stuck in the snow firmly so when he leaned further he could just hold onto it and he'd stay upright, and able to look at her.

"Can I hold your staff?" she asked, smiling at him, and she offered her own out as a gesture of goodwill. The silver haired boy cocked his eyebrow at her, before looking down at the crook like staff he had. It was what he focused his energy through, much like she did her own, but he was curious what it would feel like to hold her staff, wondered if the energy would be different.

"Sure," he said quietly after he paused a moment to think about it, "it'll feel cold to you though," he warned, offering the staff.

"And you'll think mine is roasting," she laughed, before she wrapped her fingers around the crook, and he took her straighter branch from her. Eleanor could see what he meant, because though she had heat in her fingertips, they went suddenly numb after a few seconds of holding the Winter staff, and it was like she'd plunged her hands into a bucket of ice. It felt terribly unpleasant and painful, but she didn't want to seem like a softy, so she held on. Jack, likewise, was finding that holding Eleanor's staff was definitely harder than he thought it would be. His fingers were burning up, like fire was lapping at them, and he had the terrible thought that he'd probably get blisters. He started shifting the staff between his hands, trying not to hold onto it in one had for too long or it would start becoming unbearable. It was like catching a hot potato, he wasn't going to win whatever hand he tossed it to. Both were biting their lips, and Eleanor had noticed that Jack's forehead was sweating, and he noticed her fingers had turned a nasty blue, and at the same time they snatched their own staffs back, clinging to them like their lives depended on it.

"That was a bad idea," Eleanor muttered, and Jack nodded along. He didn't know what it was. As much as he liked the Summer season, as much as he thought the sunshine was pleasant and all the colours the season brought were pretty, he was glad he didn't have control over it. He didn't think he'd manage.

When their hands were feeling better they chatted a little, but Jack saw how the younger spirit kept glancing over to her significant other, and he saw the flicker of guilt behind her eyes as he was sat alone, watching them both muck about, and he tapped her on the shoulder.

"I'll be off now, I have snowdays to make," he said with a smile, before gesturing around. "You'll be able to clear this up?"

"Oh, easily," she said with a wave of her hand, before she leaned in and hugged him with one arm. "See you soon Jack."

"You too, and tell your kangaroo to smile every now and then."

"I will," she laughed, and she led him off the field where one of the tunnels opened up to the surface, telling him he'd come out around New York if he took this rout, and he thanked her before zipping off, taking to the air with his staff. She watched him go, but felt a presence behind her, heard a soft snuffling by her neck and ear, and she closed her eyes as Aster wrapped his arms around he waist, pulled her body close to his and kissed her neck slowly.

"What are you after?" she asked, but tilted her head slightly to the side to allow him easier access, closing her eyes and basking in the moment.

"Nothing," he muttered in between kisses, smirking into her skin.

"Oh, I'm sure," she scoffed, sarcasm dripping from her voice, but she was beaming as he turned her to face him, and he was grinning back.

"Tired?" he asked, his hand reaching up to stroke her cheek, tracing her jawline delicately with his clawed nails.

"Not really," she giggled as he gathered her up in his arms, keeping her pressed close to him. The Pooka only smiled as he shifted her suddenly, throwing her up in the air to catch her bridal style, her arms wrapping around his neck instinctively for support and her body tensed slightly, anxious about him carrying her. But Aster only pressed his nose against hers and smirked;

"Good."


	39. Chapter 39

So, I covered the first world war, now here's seeing out the end of the second world war :)

I went clothes shopping today, dragged my dad around the shop for about an hour and spent sixty odd quid! I have a few new tops, a jumped, new jeans, flat shoes a coat and new earrings and a necklace! THEY'RE FOXES!

I love foxes, but only cos I'm a foxy lady.

I'm in such a good mood, I feel absolutely awesome with my short hair and new tattoo and new clothes!

My muse has run away though, I'm struggling with the three fics I'm trying to write :/ I'm in the mind set again where I could lob this one in the bin, but I won't, because I know a few people like to read it. Also, I'd love it if you could all check out my fic **'Slave to Darkness'** :3

So enjoy, and please review :)

* * *

A cheer rang out through the Pole, and the Guardians held their glasses up high, and every spirit returned the gesture. It was 1945, September 3rd. The second world war had been over for exactly twenty-four hours, and they were seeing it off with style. It was the end of hard times, the end of death and destruction and the loss of hope and wonder and innocence and happiness. It was when the seasons could fall back into full swing, where the holidays could return in earnest, and though they could not forget their losses, they had to celebrate the fact that it was over.

It was over.

There wasn't really an agenda to this gathering. It was just to eat, drink and be merry and the entirety of the party agreed that was the best thing to do. There was only one person not joining in the festivities, and she was sat in a separate room, alone, staring out of the misted window to the vast white. The room she was in was empty, save one table at the side that had a few unlit candles upon it in glass jars, and a fireplace opposite that was dead. No warm flames to brighten the room, no happy glow. It was just quiet, and dark, and empty save the girl sat on the windowsill. She was dressed in a frock where the colours seemed to dance like fire with every movement, and when she was still it calmed to look like embers, glowing bright and warm. Her short hair was ruffled slightly, and though she was happy for the end of the war and however much she longed to join in the celebrations, she couldn't bring herself to. It seemed wrong to have a party when so many men, women and children would not see another sunrise, smell another Spring flower or bask in the Summer sun. They would not hear the robin redbreast trill in late Autumn, not see the first snowflake that brought Winter with them. So many men would not be able to come in from work and kneel by the door, arms flung wide and ready to envelope his children that ran to him. Women could no longer sing their lullabies, sweet voices drifting through the air and sending the child off to sleep. Children would never grow, never fall in love for the first, or the second or the millionth time. Would never have their own children who would grow and have children, and they would never be old. Never have a story to tell.

It was wrong.

Eleanor sat there hugging herself and thinking about all the lives she'd seen lost, all the lights she'd seen flicker and die out... in her hand was a glass of wine, but she couldn't bring herself to drink it. It would seem like she was drowning her sorrows, rather than having fun. She'd rather stay sober.

"Sulking?" came a voice, and she turned to see Aster silhouetted in the doorway, only his green eyes flashing at her. With a shrug the Summer spirit turned her gaze back out the window, and she didn't watch, but listened as Aster walked over to her, placing his empty glass of wine down on the nearest table with a small clink before making his way over to her, his feet padding softly on the stone flooring. He crouched next to the windowsill she was perched on, one hand resting on her lap, the other reaching up to stroke her face gently. There was only silence, and he turned his gaze from her pale face to out the window, staring at nothing but the world in which they lived, the world she brought Summer to twice a year, the world he was dedicated to protect... they just watched, and waited, as if expecting something to happen, some miracle that might bring the millions of dead children back. Might restore a little joy back to the human race.

"I miss them too," Aster whispered, his voice low and breathy, as if afraid anyone might overhear him. Eleanor turned to look at the man she loved and examined his face. He was still looking out over the glaciers, his green eyes focused on the blue mist that rolled off the top of them, highlighted by the moonlight. There was music in the background, beautiful and slow, played on a guitar. It was the leprechaun, who wasn't even a leprechaun, he just looked like any other human being, except he had pointed ears, a shock of red hair and wore a lot of green. The song he played on the guitar made her heart lift a little, but at the same time it was sad. Looking at Aster properly she could see he looked tired, and depressed, and she slipped her hands down into her lap to hold his and she gave his hand a small squeeze, letting him know she was there, and she was listening. "I think about them every day... how they left without any hope, or happiness... how they were all scared. I... I wish I could have done more."

"You did all you could," Eleanor whispered gently, her hand gripping a little tighter. He wasn't convinced, she could tell by the way he screwed his eyes up tight as if trying to stop seeing something... probably the faces of the children he believed he failed... he was biting his lip, and he sniffed slightly. He was trying not to cry.

The music seemed to be getting louder, it was getting more soothing. It had a sweet Irish twang to it, a bit of a beat behind it that you could hear in your head. You just knew it was there. She took both of his hands then and stood up, pulling him up in front of her.

"Dance with me," she whispered, her golden eyes boring into his green ones, and his ears flattened back.

"No," Aster muttered, a small smile crossing his face as he looked at his girl, watched how she smiled wider and became suddenly more confident, the music driving through them was lifting their spirits a little.

"Oh, come on," she pleaded, tilting her head slightly, her eyes pleading with him. She looked adorable, but he wasn't having it and he averted his own eyes downwards, breaking the contact so she couldn't coax him into it.

"No, no," he pressed, and he tried shuffling away awkwardly but she kept hold of him, squeezing his hands reassuringly.

"Come on Aster, please," she pleaded, and he sighed before looking back up to her. She was still smiling, her bright eyes dancing in the moonlight that streamed through the window, making them look more silver than gold. Her pale skin seemed paler still, almost a ghostly white, and porcelain, and soft to touch. Her brown hair looked blond, it was strange seeing her look so different, but at the same time he realised how absolutely stunning she was. He shook his head again anyway, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"No, I dunno how," he confessed, and he saw as her eyes softened, and her smile widened slightly though she bit her lip, and she leaned in slightly to whisper to him;

"It's easy, I'll show you."

"Oh struth," he chuckled, but he gave in, knowing he couldn't resist those beautiful eyes when they pleaded with him, and she let the young woman pull him further into the middle of the room, where there was space to move about.

"Here, you put your hand on my shoulder," she instructed him, and she guided his right hand up onto her left shoulder, and her left hand twined around his arm, reaching up and resting on his right shoulder. Their other hands were still clasped, and she raised them a little so their elbows were bent but their hands were extended outward and level with their shoulders. "And you step back."

He took a small step backwards with his left foot, just as she took a small step forward with her left foot, her toes brushing against his, and he quickly moved his left foot too, making her giggle.

"No, this foot first," she tried to explain, nudging his right foot with her left foot again, and he moved that one back with her. The bunny grinned coyly and shifted his right foot back again on the next step, though he figured it was wrong, and Eleanor cracked up laughing.

"Like this?" he asked, going to do it again, but she was already nudging his left foot with her right, and he had to move that back instead.

"No, no, no!" she laughed, her eyes shining brighter as they stumbled around. It was like he had two left feet, he had no idea. "And back," she said, trying again, but their feet crossed and they started stumbled further, losing their balance.

"Stop!" Aster cried, but it was too late, he was already falling back and he was pulled Eleanor over with him. He landed with a thud on his back, and Eleanor landed on his chest, laughing, her hands loosing from his and instead tangling with the soft white fur of his chest. He laughed with her, his arms wrapping around her slim waist, resting on her hips before he rolled them over so we was looking down at his sunflower.

"I'll give it another go, come on," he laughed, his eyes bright and a large smile crossed his face. "I can do it... I can do it, alright?" his voice dropped in pitch, sounding lower and more serious, and the smile flickered from her face, so instead she was looking up at his wide wide curious eyes, still silver in the moonlight. Her fingers tightened on his fur so he felt the small tug, and together they lay on the cold stone floor, staring into one another's eyes, barely conscious of the fact that Aster was slowly inching his face closer to hers. Eleanor was only aware of it when she felt his warm breath tickle her lips, and Aster only realised when she gasped lightly, and her eyes fluttered closed, her lips parting ever so slightly, enticing him to kiss her. So he did, he closed that last little gap and pressed his lips to hers, delighting in the small gasp he heard, one of his hands slipping from under her back to brush lightly through her hair.

He broke the kiss, rolling sideways off her but pulling her close to his side to hug her, close enough to hear her breathing and his hand placed just so on her ribcage so he could feel her heart thumping away beneath it. It was reassuring, knowing she was there, and alive and breathing, close to him. His. It almost hadn't been, but now they'd been together for eighteen years... it struck him that they had been mates, lovers and partners longer than she had lived her life before becoming a spirit. It was sad really, but he supposed all that really mattered was that she was there with him now. He wouldn't lose her.

"I love you," he heard her whispered, and he looked down at her pale face and smiled a little.

"I love you too, flower,"he whispered back to her, before sitting up and pulling her up with him, lifting her from beside him onto his lap.

They sat quietly, cuddled up to one another, listening to one another breath slowly as they both went back to staring out of the window, watching the snow drifts blow up to create a white fog in the air, the moon shining down on the world, his glow warm and comforting.

The music the leprechaun was playing slowly turned from one of a steady beat to a lullaby, and they heard as Tommy started singing softly, but they couldn't hear the words. It was just soothing and beautiful, and they didn't have to know what she was singing about to know what it meant. It symbolised the end. The end of hard times and the end of hurt, and the start of something completely new, completely wonderful. Beautiful and special. They knew her song was one of happiness and reassurance.

The moon told them so.


	40. Chapter 40

Only a short one, but I've thrown in another twist for you all xD I seem to be doing this every 20 chapters or so, so yeah... hahaha

I so far have too many fanfics on the go. There's this one, then I'm also working on **'Master of Darkness'** which I've a few chapters posted for.

There's also a couple in the making.

**'Broken Heartstrings Bleed The Blues'**, which is mainly maleOC centric, with Tooth as the main Guardian. I have a few chapters for this.

**'Invisible' **which is kind of about Jack but not at the same time (still considering this one, I'm thinking of a oneshot, but you know my oneshots turn out to be ten chapters long)

**'Dead Girls In The Leaves'**, which is one I thought of a few hours ago. Not even written anything but I have a whole story in my head. It's about all the Guardians.

But there are too many. SO MY READERS! I'm setting up a poll, and I'm simply going to put the titles of these three stories I'm concocting and you're to vote on which you think sounds more interesting. Please, if you do anything, just go and vote, because it saves me writing loads for each only to find that there's minimal interest in it :D I want to make lots of people happy!

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

It was in the deep Arctic ices that he had hidden himself away, shunned as a legend by society and driven from duty by the other spirits. He was outdated. He was no longer needed. His methods were too harsh and to be brutally honest, every being on Earth preferred the methods of that stupid, arrogant Jack Frost. Oh, it might be cold, but the children don't have to go to school! In his day, the snow wasn't seen as a gift. He taught humanity how to survive. Tested their metal, made sure to weed out the weak from the strong.

If they couldn't survive his Winters, then tough nuts to them! There were too many children nowadays, whereas in his time families made sure to only copulate so as to have one or two of the brats, not four or five as some did in modern society. If they did have more they were guaranteed to lose some of the to the harsh seasons, as you couldn't make sure all of them were fit and healthy. Since when had big families become popular with people anyway?

Since providing for them was made easier, that's when.

Crops had failed in his day, he'd seen to it. The best farmers had the best crops, those who didn't know a hoe to a shovel could shove off for all he cared. Those true farmers, the ones that did it right, could then sell their crops on, and because children were few and far apart it was easier to shove food down their gullets. Not all this namby-pamby rubbish, all the selections of food they had that they stuck their noses up at. Oh-ho no, none of that. They got what they were given, and that was the way of it. That was his way.

But of course he was outdated, and harsh. His methods weren't right.

They'd worked for hundreds of years though, what stopped it?

Grumbling to himself, the ancient spirit shifted through his ice cave, scratching at his wrinkled old face and sighing.

The spirit looked like a very, very old man. His face was thin and sallow, and wrinkled beyond anything you could imagine. He had the sharpest grey eyes, but they were hidden beneath great bushy white eyebrows. His mouth was a thin line, lips a faint pink, and he had a mess of bushy white hair growing from his upper lip and around his face, lengthening drastically to a beard that was easily two feet long. The man, when stood tall and not hunched over with age, came to about seven feet in height, and was extremely thin, wearing a long dark blue robe, the hems covered in ice, the shoulders capped with a dusting of snow. Hanging from his long crooked nose were icicles, which he broke off and threw to the side in frustration.

It wasn't just the Winters that had gotten easier, oh no. It was the rest of the year too. As if it weren't bad enough that the Russian had brought 'Christmas' about to make the cold snaps more cheery, but Autumn was colourful and bright, and people sang about harvest and rejoiced in the bounty of their crops, which they didn't have chance to years ago because they were busy working to bring the damned harvest in. Spring was all flowery and sunshine and daisies, and it was just the bees knees wasn't it? Oh, everyone loves seeing the flowers pop up seemingly over night, loves how all the birds come back and the baby animals are being born into the world. Well isn't it just the pretty picture?

But worst of all, oh, it really annoyed him. Worst of all was Summer...

Summer, where people played outside in the sunshine, and skipped around in barely anything, and had barbecues, and went to the beach, and had a la-dee-dah time. Bah! Besides it being the opposite of everything that he stood for, and he meant everything, it put the people too much at ease. He'd always despised the Summer months, leaving people so unprepared for the harsh colds Winter brought, leaving them cursing his season, when really they should see it as a blessing. How else would these ingrates know they could stand the test of time if they had nothing to test them? How would they separate the dregs of society from those who could stand it, if it weren't for Winter?

Winter, his namesake. His season... his.

Not Frosts', or North's, or anybody else's.

He'd show the human race what Winter truly meant, would show them that they should not have let their guard down to him, even when they still had the season, but they didn't understand its reasoning. Rats to them all if they didn't like it!

The elderly man stood tall and scowled at his reflection in a long sheet of ice, clenching his fists.

Mankind needed to be weeded again. Thoroughly. They needed the weak and the sick taken away, needed the path to be left open for the stronger ones, and they could get back to their roots, learn to farm all over again, learn to take care of themselves like they should. To do that though, he needed to eliminate the factor that was leaving them weak and defenceless, leaving them cursing and writing off Winter.

He needed to eliminate Summer. And he knew exactly how to do that.

But it would take time, and careful planning...

He glanced back to a sheet of ice, and trailed his fingers across it, the chipped image of a young girl in a long flowing dress etched itself in beneath his fingers, and he smirked.

Destroying Summer wouldn't be the easiest task, but it would happen... in time.


	41. Chapter 41

Ohai guys! I know I asked you to vote on the poll yesterday and I totally didn't realise it wasn't set to show on my bio. How stupid is that? Who would make a poll and not want it to be seen? Pssh.

Anyways it is up NOW! And I would be eternally grateful if you could vote please, because I have so many projects and so not enough hours. Ick. I need more hours and less ideas, so you guys are literally going to help if you can.

you vote on the poll, on the title of a story for RotG, and whichever gets most votes I'm rolling with. Second most votes goes after that then so on so forth!

Choices are...

**'Dead Girls In The Leaves'**

**'Broken Heartstrings Bleed The Blues'**

**'Invisible To Him'**

So yeah... please vote, and in the meantime read and review if you would :D

* * *

"I'm going to kill him!"

Eleanor looked up from the book she was reading, startled by the shout that came from the doorway. She'd decided to visit North for a small while, since it had been years since she'd seen the older man, and she'd felt terribly about it because he was so much like a father to her now. She'd been curled up in the armchair in the main room reading an old book about his adventures when he was younger, written by a woman names Katherine who North appeared to be very fond of. North had been lounging on the couch, his feet up on the armrest while she read the book aloud and he chuckled at parts he remembered, when all of a sudden Aster had appeared, and he was livid. She'd only ever seen him so angry once before, and that was when Pitch appeared all those years ago in the woods. Heavens only knew what he'd say if he knew she had seen him since. To this day he still didn't know about the dance they shared at the party, nor did he know she'd seen him various times around the Second World War... but that was a good twenty years ago. She was more worried about what made him angry now.

"Bunny, calm down!" North cried, sitting upright and shooting his fellow Guardian a reproachful look, but Aster was having none of it, and his angry gaze was fixed on Eleanor, which made her very nervous.

"Calm down!? You want me to _calm down_?!" he bellowed, storming forward, his shoulders squared and his whole stance thoroughly intimidating. "I'll be calm mate, believe me, I will. When I kill that racking nonce!"

"Aster," Eleanor tried, standing up and inching forward meekly, but she didn't have chance to say anything before he pointed accusingly at her.

"Don't you bloody stick up for him either, Nora, I've had enough of him!"

"Who?" she asked, her brow knitted together, worried and confused now. What had she done to provoke such hostility?

"You know who!" he hissed, his emerald eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. "The guy you're all chummy with, your precious little Jack Frost! That's who!" he yelled, and Eleanor felt her stomach drop through. She knew Jack and Aster didn't get along well, and at the best of times they tolerated one another, for her sake if nothing else. But Jack must really have stuck his foot in it this time to make Aster so angry, and though she did tend to stick up for Jack as he was like a brother to her, this time she knew she would side with her partner. She was his mate after all, and he was obviously very upset.

"Aster, come here," she said gently, her hand outstretched to him, beckoning him towards her. He looked like he was going to keep shouting, but the calm look in her eyes made him hush up, and he grumbled as he padded heavily towards her, expression like a wet blanket. Eleanor knew one way to calm her love down, so she eased him back onto the armchair before sitting lightly on his lap, one arm circling behind his head so she could touch his ears slyly, stroking them. It always calmed him down. Made him sleepy actually, and right away his eyes started to droop and the stony expression he wore on his face eased. Only for a second, before he tisked and shook her off, leaving her feeling a bit annoyed on his lap. He didn't push her off though, instead his arm slowly wrapped around her, and she realised that stroking his ears had helped, she grinned, it always helped.

"What happened?" she asked, her fingers curling into his soft fur. "What did he do?"

"What did he do?" the Pooka scoffed, his grey fur bristling. "He wrecked Easter, that's all!"

Eleanor felt her jaw drop as this information hit her, and she shook her head, astounded by what she heard, and unable to quite take it in. North, who had been watching the couple intently, smirking as Eleanor used her little trick to calm the rabbit down, furrowed his brow in concern and stood, walking over to them and folding his arms as he loomed over them.

"What do you mean, wrecked Easter?" he asked, his voice gruff and serious, and the Summer spirit was sure there was a hint of danger there. North could be quite intimidating sometimes, and this was one of those times.

"Blizzards! Over half of North America, you realise how that affects my egg hunts? I've had to run round like an idiot finding half of them to make it easier!"

"He... he caused blizzards? But it's April," Eleanor muttered, her hand gently stroking Aster's neck to try and calm him down, but he was seething again.

"As if my job isn't hard enough already! I didn't need that stress!"

Eleanor tutted gently and pulled Aster into a hug, her face buried in the crook of his neck and he dropped his chin to rest on her head, sighing. It was a loud, bellowing laugh that startled the pair, and the Summer spirit closed her eyes and bit her lip, knowing another argument was going to break out.

"You are upset, over blizzards?!" North cried, his face red from laughter, but he carried on, holding his stomach as he doubled over, tears of mirth forming in the corners of his sparkling blue eyes, and she felt her partner tense up, and she subtly slipped from his lap and inched away, knowing a fight would break out.

"Oh, I'm sorry mate, didn't realise there _was_ a funny side to this!" the Pooka yelled, standing upright suddenly and squaring up to North, whose laughter died down and he looked confused. "Tell you what, come Christmas I'll follow you around and take those presents you spend ages preparing, and spend hours setting up quite nicely, and I'll take them outside and hide them in the snow. It'll be a right _laugh_, won't it?"

North wasn't laughing any more, and Eleanor felt very, very uncomfortable. She'd backed herself into the corner and was watching with wide, frightened eyes.

"But Bunny," North started, his voice low, and quiet, and dangerous. "Easter is not Christmas. Is no big deal."

"Don't start that one again," Aster cried, prodding North in the chest. "I've had enough with your 'Christmas is better' rubbish!"

"Is not rubbish, it is true!" North cried, prodding Aster back, the sheer size of the older man was enough to knock him back a step, and as anger flashed in his emerald eyes Nora knew Aster was about to pounce.

"Stop it!" she cried, stepping forward quickly as Aster raised a fist, standing between the two men as he swung it and she caught it with her hands, taking most of the force out of the swing as she steered his arm off to the side, although her fingers did sting a little bit. Her elbow went out instinctively to jab North in the stomach as he stepped forward, and she noticed he'd raised his own arm to retaliate, but the sharp pain in his stomach stopped him, and she purposely trod on Aster's toes to make him jump back.

"Sunflower, stay out of this," her Pooka started, but she fixed him with a glare and he shut up right away.

"Don't you _'sunflower'_ me! And no I won't keep out of it, I'm not about to stand in the corner and watch as two of my childhood heroes have a go at one another!" she shouted, her voice going up in pitch as she spoke, upset worming into her voice as she tried to express what she thought. The saying was right... hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. "You two always seemed to get along so well when I was younger! Are you really going to argue over holidays? They're both important, and yes it's terrible what Jack has done but there's no need to take it out on everyone else," she said firmly, chastising her lover. Then she rounded on North, and he took a small step back, the anger within the small woman enough to set him on edge. He braced himself for her shouting, but it didn't come. Instead she sounded small and tired and very disappointed, which was worse than shouting... It made the pair of them feel terrible.

"North, I realise how important Christmas is, I really do, but there's no need to belittle Aster over his holiday because you think it's less important. It's not fair on him. They are both important and the sooner you realise that the better it will be."

Both of the older men looked a little abashed, having been told off by a woman so much younger than them, but then conceded and nodded their heads, admitting that they didn't exactly handle this in the best way. The elves and a couple yeti had been watching from the sidelines, shuffling awkwardly until one of the elves ran towards her, and she looked down at him, recognising him as the one she often shared her cocoa with when she did visit North, and she smiled down at him as he tugged the hem of her skirt, trying to distract her and lead her away so the two Guardians could talk and make up. So she followed him, despite the fact that Aster mumbled a protest and his hand instinctively reached out for her, brushing against her arm but he let her go when she shot him a look.

"I'm going to stay here again tonight, if that's okay," she said as she stopped at the archway and turned back to her partner and the man she saw as a dad. "It gives you time to figure this out with Jack... only if that's okay with you North?"

"No, no, it's fine," the Russian said with a nod, and she beamed at him, her eyes lighting up suddenly, which cheered both the men up considerably. Aster nodded along, scratching the back of his neck as he mumbled about finding Jack, but he sighed.

"I better hop to it then," and he smiled at his own clever use of words, "I'll see you later sunflower."

He bound over and took her hand slowly, as if a little anxious she would still be mad at him and pull her hand away, but she let him intertwine his fingers with hers and she smiled up at him a little. He pressed his nose against her cheek, whispered that he loved her before pulling away, his fingers lingering on hers for seconds, then he opened a tunnel and he was gone. Eleanor barely noticed the elf still pulling at her dress, her eyes were lingering on the floor where her partner had gone. The elf persisted in tugging on her dress, and she eventually gave in and followed him to the kitchens where she was coaxed into making hot chocolate in an industrial sized pan as it seemed the entire elf work force wanted some.

She was stirring the pan, staring into the brown liquid to wait for the bubbled that indicated it was hot enough when a loud cough brought her back to reality, and she snapped her head up, cricking her neck slightly, to look at North, who was stood in the doorway to the kitchen, had folded his arms and had a small smile on his face.

"What?" she asked, a lopsided grin spreading over her face as she temporarily forgot about the hot chocolate.

"Christmas is better," he said quietly, so she shook her head at him before they both burst out laughing.


	42. Chapter 42

Hi guys! Wondering if you could all still check my poll out and please vote :3

Again, the choices are:

**'Invisible To Him'**

**'Broken Heartstrings Bleed The Blues'**

**'Dead Girls In The Leaves'**

It's simply what you think sounds interesting ^_^ Then I can focus my attentions to one fic to work on rather than all five- those being **'The End Of Summer'**, **'Master of Darkness'** (sequel to **'Slave to Darkness'**, which I'd love y'all to check out), and then these three ideas I have. So yeah xD

It'd be appreciated.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter, and please review!

* * *

"Why are you following me?" the Summer spirit asked, treading lightly through the wheat fields, the golden hues of the plant fading into browns. Autumn was well into the swing of things now, and she was careful not to revive the plants, lest Tommy would be mad at her.

"The winds are changing."

"No, it's been a South-Easterly wind for the last three days," she muttered, and she heard him tisk slightly and she grinned, turning to look at him. She'd gotten used to him appearing every now and then, and he popped up more frequently now the end of the sixties had come around and the seventies were just around the corner. People had gotten into the nasty habit of drug abuse, and the hallucinogens within them sent them into frenzies that left them, and the people around them, scared half to death. Pitch thought it was hilarious, Eleanor thought it was sad.

"It's colder though, don't you think so?" he asked, walking up beside her and looking down into her golden eyes, which she promptly rolled at him.

"That's the way the seasons work Pitch, they get colder as the year wears on."

"You're not listening," he huffed, his arms folding over his chest reminding her of when a small child would sulk. She tried to hold in her laughter, but she couldn't, and she had to lean on her staff to stop her falling over, and he glared at her, tapping his foot impatiently until she stopped, and she wiped tears of mirth from her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, clutching her sides where stitches had set in, and she looked up apologetically. "You just looked funny, I really am sorry."

"Obviously," he muttered, but a tiny smile crossed his face when she looked away. "Do you seriously not feel it though?"

"Feel what?" she asked, in all seriousness this time because there was something he was trying to get at, and it was starting to concern her. She would never really have considered Pitch friend material, he was just too cold and calculating. But they got on fairly well when they wanted to, they could converse and discuss matters like civil beings, and she liked that, it allowed her a different view of the Nightmare King, not the one she was presented when she was a child. Somewhere deep down he was a nice guy, there was just a lot of darkness there too, concealing that.

"Something is just... changing..." he muttered, turning his golden eyes out to look over the fields, still ripe and ready to be harvested. He wasn't entirely sure what it was himself, but he felt something, and it concerned him. There were millions of delicate balances to the world, some which could tip and have no real consequence... but this one. It felt like this one balance could tip the scales... could tip many, many scales, and the consequence would be dire.

How to communicate that to a girl who had no clue though, he couldn't figure out, but she needed to understand, and she needed to be careful.

"Just don't let your guard down," he said slowly, his head turning and his eyes fixing on hers, and he saw how she looked both confused and a little frightened, but he didn't gain from it. He didn't let himself. "There are more monsters in the world than me."

She went to say something, but he moved back through the wheat, and she she pushed through trying to find him, he was gone. Melted into the shadows...

* * *

"Why do they always run away?" Eleanor called, wading through the paint pond and scooping out the eggs with tiny little legs. They always made her giggle, they were so cute, but the way they always ran away irritated her, she hated chasing them.

"Well, when you have so many you tend to get a few wanderers," Aster tried to explain, ushering a group of about thirty eggs back up the hill. "There are early bloomers too... I'll probably send them to North for his elves to play with," he added in an after thought.

The Summer spirit only nodded slightly and waded back to the bank, where she climbed out and looked at her purple legs, giggling to herself. While she wasn't going about her Summer duties, she'd taken to trading her dress in for a pair of black shorts she'd asked Phil the yeti to make for her, and a red short sleeved shirt. Both the shorts and the shirt had traditional Russian patterns stitched into them, and when she wore them she looked very much like she should be in the Pole following North around, she was dressed so much like him. Phil had originally made her pants and a long sleeve shirt, purely from habit, but she'd gotten too warm in them. She also had a pair of boots she could wear, but she left them inside the burrow because she'd gotten so used to not wearing shoes that it seemed sort of strange now.

"I think I got them all," she told Aster, placing the eggs on the ground and brushing her fingers through her hair, leaving purple paint streaking through it. Aster looked from his crowd of eggs to his mate and grinned. She had purple paint all up her legs, to her thighs, and the same with her arms to about her elbows. Her hair was covered in it and it was flecked all over her clothing and her face, and the way she smiled at him, those golden eyes gleaming, he just wanted to pull her close and kiss her and not let go. But his duties as Easter Bunny and overseer of Spring niggled at him, and he sighed slightly as he turned back to the eggs and directed them up the hill, the sentinels waiting for them up there with a large crate to trap them in, their serious faces on display. The eggs were adorable, but they were little blighters too. He still didn't know what made them grow and bloom so early, but he didn't want it to repeat... he'd have to do an inspection around all the plants tomorrow to make sure it wasn't happening again.

Eleanor watched as he took them and boxed them all up, sighing as he wondered how it would be best to get them to the Pole without breaking them all. He knew North would kill for something to keep the elves busy for a few hours, and painting eggs and looking after them would be just the trick. Smirking slightly, he wondered what the old man would say, knowing that Easter got one over on Christmas.

"I'll be back in a bit," he told Eleanor, shifting the crate around so he could carry it easier. There were only fifty eggs, so it wasn't that big and it wasn't that heavy, but Eleanor shook her head at him, stepping forward.

"I want to come too, I want to see North again," she said quickly, and he shot her a confused look but shrugged. She could do what she wanted to. If she wanted to see North, she could see North.

She watched him as he smirked at her, and without warning he'd opened a tunnel under her feet, and she dropped through it, sliding down it like a chute and she went hurtling out the other end, screaming bloody blue murder until she felt arms close around her, and she looked up at Phil, who gasped at the state of her clothing.

"Oh, hello Phil," she gasped, clambering down from his arms to stand shakily on the floor. Her stomach felt queezy, and she looked at Aster as he popped out of his own tunnel and tried to think if it had ever been that bad when she was a child... she'd never felt like that, and she chalked it down to her being used to flying by now... other modes of transport seemed a bit strange to her. The Pooka only grinned, and she shot him a dirty look before settling herself on the floor, cross legged, breathing deeply to stop the nauseous feeling in her stomach.

"I'm not doing that again," she hissed, ignoring his laughter and the elves that were surrounding her, the bells on their heads chiming as they rushed her way. It was only when she heard great thudding footsteps and felt hot breath on her face did she open her eyes, and she reeled backwards as North chuckled, his nose inches from hers and his bright blue eyes shining. In her shock she almost forgot why she'd come, but she remembered and she jumped up, though found herself ignored as Aster and North chattered about the eggs and the idea about keeping the elves occupied.

"-yeah, they came out early, so I figured it'd keep the elves, uh... out from 'under boot'" the bunny said, forming quotation marks in the air with his fingers. North stroked his beard, smiling slightly before he nodded and thanked the other Guardian, shaking his paw that was still up in the air. It was nice to see that they weren't arguing about their holidays, but at the same time Eleanor wanted to address the issue Pitch had brought up. She didn't understand what he was on about, changes in the world and more monsters than just him – although she wouldn't consider him a monster, possibly just misguided.

"North, I needed to ask you something," she said quietly, touching the bearded man's arm gently, and very meekly. He looked down at her, his eyes curious and his smile wide.

"What is wrong?" he asked, giving her his full attention and even Aster seemed intrigued, his nose twitching about and his ears perking up. She felt a little on the spot now, not sure how to approach a subject she knew so little about, especially with the two Guardians looking at her so intently.

"Um... do you feel like something is different?" she asked, her fingers knotting together awkwardly, and she felt herself shrink a bit under their gaze. It was then she wished she had long hair again, or that her hair now would at least grow so she could have hidden behind it.

"Like what?" Aster asked, stepping forward a little and looking at her curiously.

"Like... I don't know. I just feel like something is changing," she lied, knowing she felt nothing, it was Pitch who had given her the heads up, and she wasn't even sure if he was lying to her or not. There was no reason to, he'd never actually lied to her before.

"Hm... I don't feel any change, is probably nothing, don't worry!" North cried with a bright smile, patting her on the shoulder, and Eleanor actually felt herself ease up a little, and she managed to smile up at him.

"Me neither sunflower," Aster chipped in, though he seemed considerably less smiley than his fellow Guardian. After forty years together he'd finally started to learn how to read her. It wasn't because he didn't pay attention to her, or because she was complex, he was just terrible at reading emotions unless they were obvious. For instance, if someone was punching you, they generally weren't happy. If he was being kissed, then it was a far more positive sign. He could tell now she seemed very off, but he'd save questions for later when they were back in the nest.

"So, what was with that earlier, about something being different?" he asked, lying on his stomach with Eleanor sprawled over his back. She'd been uncomfortable in the nest lately so she'd started taking to using him as a comforter.

"I don't know, I just got the feeling something was different," she muttered, her face pressed into his neck, so she sounded very muffled. He opened his eyes and blinked until he'd become accustomed to the dark. It had to be the middle of the night, but he just wasn't tired. His mind was running away with him, so instead he stared blankly around at the burrow he'd made many, many years ago. The dirt walls had been strengthened with rocks that he'd inset into them, creating a sort of mosaic look, and when he'd gotten bored he'd taken to painting them. Tribal images, various triangular and diamond patterns, paintings of his village when it had thrived, when there had been hundreds of Pooka.

Sighing, he rolled sideways so Eleanor fell off with a squeak, and he turned himself so he was lying on his side, facing her. Thinking about his tribe, all those who had been taken from him so, so long ago for him thinking about them. How he'd lost her once, how really she was so fragile and she did so much so often to get herself into trouble. He'd known she'd gotten involved in the war by diverting the German bombers, and taming fires enough for the emergency services. He didn't want her to do something stupid so that he lost her again. Spirits could withstand a lot of pain, they could undergo a great old battering and still walk away seemingly unscathed, maybe a bit winded, but otherwise all right. But he always felt differently about Nora. He knew she was capable of handling herself, but he didn't think he'd be able to handle losing her again.

"Is something the matter?" he asked, cupping her face and stroking her cheek with his thumb. "You can tell me you know?"

"I know," she huffed, nuzzling her face into his neck, her eyes closed and her breathing gentle, it seemed she was going to sleep. "I just felt like something was different, but I guess I just made a mistake."

She yawned widely and he watched as she cuddled into him, her legs slowly tucking up until she was curled up into a tight foetal position against him. She went to sleep then, but his mind still raced, and he couldn't find himself able to sleep. Instead he spent the night watching her sleep, stroking her hair gently and holding her close, taking some solace in her smile.


	43. Chapter 43

Hey guys!

The poll is still open, and it would mean a hell of a lot if more people could go and vote on what they think I should do next. I have had 4 votes so far, and thanks to those of you who have voted! :D But I know there's a lot more of you out there, so please, please, please help a gal out?

Anyways, thanks for your time!

Enjoy!

* * *

"Jack, you do realise Aster would kill me if he knew I snook you into the Warren?" Eleanor hissed, looking around the boulder for any sign of her partner or his sentinels. Jack nudged her along, a big lopsided grin on his face as he looked around the boulder with her. It was a clear run, and he whooped as he ran out, arms stretched as some breeze carried him over the meadows and fields, skirting along the treetops. With a groan Eleanor followed, pelting through the grass, leaping rocks and fallen trees. She could hear him just up ahead, and she knew he was gaining on him. Then she watched as he dropped though the trees, landing before her but continuing his sprint.

"Jack!" she cried, pushing herself harder, her heard hammering away beneath her chest, although she didn't tire or falter. Her feet continued their steady beat along the ground, one after the other, as she tried to catch up to her friend, but he was much faster on the wind, and she wasn't going to catch him before he got them both into trouble. So with a push she burst into flame and soared forward, the wind carrying her too, rushing under her wings as she sped towards the boy, catching him in her talons by the back of his jumper before pulling back, snagging him from the air. She transformed again, making Jack yelp in surprise though she knew the flame and sparks wouldn't hurt him, and she pinned him to the ground. "Are you stupid?" she hissed, her eyes burning, "if Aster knew you were here he'd be angry with me, that doesn't mean it gives you free reign to run about like that. We need to be careful!"

"Don't be such a spoilsport!" he laughed, but she fixed him with another angry gaze and he stopped, the smile faded slightly and it seemed to dawn on him how much trouble they could actually get in. "Look, okay! Okay! I'll creep around."

Sighing, Eleanor stood up and offered her hand, pulling him up beside her and looking up at him, frowning.

"You're stupid sometimes, Jack," she muttered and he frowned at her, his eyes cast sideways away from her and his arms folded across his chest defensively.

"It's a bit uncalled for," he muttered, but after a moment of awkward silence he huffed and looked back at her, a small smile creeping onto his face. "I'm sorry, I'll be quieter."

So the pair of them strolled around the Warren, being careful to stay out of the way of any sentinels and be careful to make sure Aster didn't come back any time soon, else she would be in trouble. He was still sour over the whole Easter Sunday thing, and she didn't think he'd take too kindly to seeing Jack. It was as they were walking that Eleanor wondered about what Pitch had told her, wondered if he was right in what he had been saying about things seeming colder and things changing, and who would know better than Jack Frost the very person who brought the cold and the frost.

"Jack, I need to ask you something, but you need to keep it secret," she said quietly, taking hold of his hand and lacing her fingers with his, something they did all the time when they were discussing something serious.

"Sure," he replied, squeezing her hand a little before pulling her to the side onto a small boulder. "What's wrong?"

She sat beside him, their hands still clasped as she considered her words, and unlike other times when she tried to talk to him he stayed very calm and sensible, sensing that there was something very important about this conversation and he shouldn't do anything to interrupt her.

"You know Pitch Black?" she asked slowly.

"The Bogeyman?" he questioned, his brow furrowing. "Besides that time he cornered you in Manchester... seen him once or twice I think... what about him?"

"I see him a lot, I've been seeing him since I was alive," she said, and a dark looked crossed Jack's eyes, and his grip tightened on her hand.

"I know... like the night you, you know..." the end of his sentence drifted off, his thoughts trailing to that night and what he'd seen. "I saw him lurking about, so I tried stopping you going to that party."

"I know," Nora said gently, looking up at him. "I know."

There was silence again as both spirits thought about what had happened so long ago. Eleanor never realised how much she meant to Jack, how vivid the memory still was for him and the look on his face now told her he had been badly affected by it. Slowly she leaned into him, resting her head upon his shoulder and he let go of her hand to wrap his arms about her shoulders.

"He said there were changes happening, said something was coming, and it seemed serious. He's never actually lied to me before and he hasn't hurt me so I don't see what might make that change."

"What about the time he pinned you against the wall?" he mumbled, and she nudged him slightly.

"Stick to the subject Jack. He said it's getting colder... is it?"

She looked upwards slightly so she could just see the silver haired boys face, and he sighed a little, biting his lip.

"I don't know. I haven't actually been paying attention to it. There's this whole Global Warming thing people keep going on about, so I'd assume the world is getting hotter. Unless he assumes we're heading for another Ice Age?

"I don't think so... the last ice age was nearly twelve thousand years ago."

"That's true..." Jack mused, rubbing his cheek, "have you said anything to Bunny?"

"I mentioned it to Aster and North, but neither of them thought anything was up," she explained, sitting up again and looking at him. "I thought you'd notice things getting colder, if they were."

"I haven't," he said with a shake of his head. "But I'll keep my eyes out for anything, and you'll be the first person I tell."

The two spirits spent a small time after that chatting to one another, before Eleanor realised what time it was by looking at the position of the sun above the Warren and she knew Aster would be back soon. Jack took that as an indication to leave, hugged her goodbye and shot away over the hills where he knew an exit was that would get him up to the surface. Eleanor went to stand up, looking about the Warren calmly. It was always so peaceful and serene and she breathed deeply, inhaling the fresh air when she heard a rustling behind her that was more than just the wind in the leaves, and she turned sharply to see Aster stood there, with the most livid expression on his face.

"Pitch told you?" he asked, but his voice was low and dangerous, the Australian twang in his voice seemed more pronounced and somehow deadlier. "Pitch told you something bad was happening, and you didn't think to mention that to me and North?"

"Aster, I-" Eleanor started, but the Pooka cut over her, stepping closer, his frame towering above hers and she took a step away from him, fear clouding her eyes.

"I told you never to go near him!" Aster cried, looking furious. "But he was there the night you died? And how many times since?" he shouted, going to her quickly now, his hand wrapping around her arm and holding her still, though she fought to get away from him.

"He was there at the party!" she cried, her heart aching as terror struck her, and she realised it was Aster instilling it in her. "He told me Mary had gone for Roger, and I've seen him a few times since because when the war was on he was drawn to towns where people were scared."

"Like Manchester?" Aster asked, his voice dropping again, a whisper, but still deadly.

"Yes," Eleanor replied, gathering herself up as she stopped struggling against him, standing stock still. "Aster, listen to me," she said sharply as he went to open his mouth again, and he stopped, closed his mouth and stared down at her, icily.

"What?" he asked, letting go of her arm and staring at her. Ignoring the red mark he left there or the stinging sensation she felt, she looked up at him.

"He's never hurt me. Never threatened me. He's only ever been curious as to how I came to be a spirit," she explained gently, reaching forward and touching his arm, but he pulled away.

"Nora, I told you to stay away from him. He's a dangerous person, he's... he's capable of a lot of bad things."

"Such as?" she asked, and she saw hurt flicker in his eyes, something she'd never seen before, and she felt her stomach drop as she wondered what was wrong, what Pitch might have done.

"Nora, it's... nothing. But please, don't talk to him again. Don't let him near you. He's no good."

Aster moved a small step towards her then, holding her hand and stooping to kiss her on the lips. He heard her breathing shudder and felt her breath on his nose, and smiled a little as he pressed his lips against hers, savouring it for a few moments before pulling away. He didn't have a chance to think before she had gone forward and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face in his chest and he held her there tightly, stroking her hair and kissing her atop her head repeatedly.

"You said I could tell you anything," she said, though her voice seemed muffled. "You can do the same with me, Aster."

Nodding slightly the Pooka closed his eyes and thought about everything. He didn't know how to tell her that Pitch had been the reason his tribe had died. All his friends and family, every adult and kit. Nobody but he had survived, and then the man in the moon had led him to North, Sandy and Tooth. They'd taken him in and helped him cope, been the family he needed when he'd lost everybody and everything else. He'd become a Guardian, and in the dark ages they'd driven Pitch away... or he'd thought so. Apparently times of hardship for humanity drew him out, gave him strength. Thankfully it didn't last long enough to bring him to full power, and there was always the hope that things would get better, that the wars would be overcome and normality restored. Nothing ever managed to stop every child from believing there was always something magical to help them when they needed it, so they stayed as Guardians, and the world stayed safe. Although there were many scars across many nations, humans learnt from their troubles, and more often than not the same problem did not arise, and Pitch would not grow stronger. But now he was worming his way back in, and Aster couldn't think of a way to explain it to his mate and the woman he loved why she should not befriend the being that seemed so friendly towards her.

"When I'm ready..." he whispered eventually, and Eleanor nodded understandingly, pulling away from the embrace to take his hand, and together they walked in silence around the Warren, through the fields and the forests, and for the first time in years they allowed themselves to see the beauty of the world they lived in, all theirs, which unbeknownst to Eleanor had scars of it's own.


	44. Chapter 44

Here is chapter 44!

Again people, please please please vote on the poll :3

Choices are:

**'Dead Girls In The Leaves'**

**'Invisible To Him'**

**'Broken Heartstrings Bleed The Blues'**

So yeah, it really would be appreciated... I've hit a bout of writers block, so progress is slow, unfortunately. I'll keep plodding on, but anything I write may suffer as a result of it. If I don't write though, I won't actually break out of it. Nasty circle.

But yeah, hope you enjoy!

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Eleanor sat quietly in North's office, lighting the candles in the glass jars on the desk around her. She loved the office, because there was so many beautiful things there, so much to make her think about magic and wonder and Christmas. Think about how much effort was put into making billions of children happy. Upon the desk sat a carousel made completely of ice, with little carved ponies that went around and around, all on their own, filled with magic. It was beautiful, and the light shone through it just right so hundreds of sparkles were cast off, like a crystal would.

She'd come because something important was happening, North had called the Guardians to the Pole because something was going wrong on the globe, and she bit her lip as she wondered what could have happened. Aster hadn't arrived yet, but she'd been flying over Scotland when she'd seen the Aurora Borealis and her curiosity piqued, so she'd come to the Pole to see what was going on. Nosy bugger she was. North had greeted her in and sat her down in his office where it was slightly warmer until he could get a fire stoked in the main room. For some reason it hadn't been lit, and she could actually feel the chill out there, which made her very agitated because she wasn't a creature of cold. She needed a warmer climate.

Shivering slightly, she rubbed her arms as she tried to warm up, the fire here not large enough to warm her properly, and the Summer spirit looked about for some extra source of warmth. Wondering how North had managed to live up in the freezing cold for so many years astounded the girl, but she reminded herself that he was Russian, so used to the climate, and he tended to wear very thick clothing. That was when she spotted it up on a hanger, right and thick and _warm_. Bounding forward, Eleanor nearly tripped over an elf as she went to grab Nicholas St North's famous red coat. Her hand stopped as she reached for it, and she bit her lip wondering if he would be okay with this. But he wouldn't want her to freeze would he? She started to feel a little giddy over the idea of wearing Santa's coat. _The_ Santa's coat.

Her hand reached out and she brushed her fingers against the sleeve, her mouth dropping open into a small 'o' as she felt how soft it was. Her other hand reached up too, and slowly she pulled the large coat off the hanger, and nearly toppled over because of the weight. She hadn't thought it would have been that heavy but it felt like holding a sack of potatoes, and she huffed a little as she dropped the hem to the floor, and held it up by the shoulders. It was large. Very large. And she could make out the intricate stitch work and the patterns so delicately sewn in that you just wouldn't see from afar. The fur surprised her the most. She'd always thought the black fur that lined the coat and decorated the hems and the shoulders would have been coarse and rough, but it was just as soft as the red material, and she wasted no time in slipping her arms into the sleeves, and pulling it tightly around her. The sleeves didn't even come close to fitting her, coming way past her hands so they looked something akin to monks robes. The bottom of the coat dropped to the floor and pooled around her ankles, so it looked like a very baggy dress. Grinning she looked at the small gathering of elves and extended her arms, giggling.

"What do you think?" she asked, twirling as best she could, but she toppled over, tripping over the coat and landed on her bottom on the floor. The elves chattered away and rushed to her, but she burst out laughing, pushing herself back up onto her feet. The elves went from looking worried to overjoyed in mere seconds, all bounding towards her and jumping about, excited as she twirled again, this time keeping her balance.

"I think I could pull this look off, don't you? North's got competition," she laughed, putting her hands on her hips and standing as tall as she could, before she dropped herself into the wooden spinning chair again, pulling the coat close to her, burying her face in the furs. They smelled like vodka and spice. Cinnamon she thought, or nutmeg. Sighing happily she looked back at the elves who were mimicking the pose she'd used not minutes before. "I don't think we do it quite as well as North, but nobody can do Santa like Santa, eh?"

She didn't understand a word of their chattering, all she really knew was that she'd warmed up, but she did notice how their heads kept turning to look behind her, and curiously she turned around in the chair, only for her face to turn as red as the coat she was wearing.

North was stood leaning on the door frame, arms crossed and with the biggest smile on his face. She jumped up and went to take the coat off and hastily apologise, but he held a hand up and she froze, too embarrassed to say or do anything.

"Is okay," he laughed, coming into the room and pulling her into a one armed hug, the coat bunching up against her back as he did so. "I should have thought the fire wasn't big enough. You look good in red, though."

Eleanor grinned sheepishly up at him, her face turning it's usual soft peach colour, but her cheeks kept the warm red glow. His bright blue eyes were twinkling at her, and she was just so glad he hadn't been mad at her for using his things, that she just leaned forward and hugged him, feeling very much like a child again as the mammoth of a man enveloped her in a hug. He smelled like his coat, and it made her feel safe and warm and oddly festive, considering Christmas had been months ago.

He led Eleanor out down the hall towards the globe room, and she saw Tooth was already there with some of her little fairies, and one in particular that zoomed her way, chirping on in front of her. It was the most adorable thing she'd ever seen! The little thing looked similar to Tooth by means of feather colour, with one long gold feather protruding from her forehead and flicking up like a mini tiara. She had one bright pink and and one eye the most sparkling baby blue, and she was so damn friendly that Eleanor wanted to keep the fairy all for herself.

"Baby-Tooth," North muttered in her ear, making her jump a little as her fingers went out to stroke the tiny fairies head gently. "Adorable, isn't she?" he added with a chuckle.

"She's too cute," Eleanor agreed, smiling widely at the little thing before it chirped happily and zoomed back to Tooth.

Sandy appeared then, and Nora gathered the coat around herself, pushing her way onto the fire to sit in the armchair while she heard another voice she recognised, loud behind the babble of Tooth telling her fairies where to go to collect teeth, and North offering refreshments out... of the alcoholic variety.

"This better be good North!" Aster cried, bounding in, shivering and kicking snow from the pads of his feet. He'd overshot again. He saw her huddled on the chair, watching him from beneath the folds of the coat and he shot her a confused look, but grinned and went to her anyway, kissing her atop her head. "Hey sunflower," he whispered affectionately, before he jumped away again and warmed his feet by the fire, pouting about the cold.

"I obviously wouldn't have called you all here, unless it was serious!" North impressed upon the gathering of Guardians, and the Summer spirit huddled in the corner, watching curiously. North went and stood by the fire, before turning to Tooth and Sandy, Bunny just beside him still rubbing his feet and trying to bring some feeling back to them. "The Boogeyman was here... at the Pole!"

The general feeling in the room was one of shock and surprise, but upon hearing North's announcement Eleanor felt herself go cold, and she pushed herself back into the chair, trying to will herself away... the look Aster shot her was one of concern and confusion, as if asking if she knew anything about this, but she'd not seen Pitch in about forty years. Not since the early seventies, when Aster had told her how dangerous he could be, but hadn't gone into specifics. He just seemed so worried about her that she had to do that one thing for him. She'd not seen any reason not to, it wasn't like she was friends with the Nightmare King, but it sometimes felt strange when she walked down the street and she didn't feel like someone was following her.

Could this have been the change he'd mentioned so long ago? He'd said there were more monsters in the world than just him, but he was the one that came to mind initially...

When she eventually snapped out of her train of thought, she turned and saw Aster and North arguing... over their holidays. It didn't take much to start the pair off, they were always so eager to have a pop at one another over who had the most important holiday, but she understood why Aster was so annoyed. He'd not slept the past week while he'd made preparations for Easter, and he still had two million eggs to paint. She'd looked at his tally that morning before she'd gone out flying.

And then the most hilarious thing happened. She noticed Sandy pointing upwards to the skylight, and she looked up to the the moon, as big and bright as she remembered it from her first moments of becoming a spirit. She felt herself drawn to it, felt her heart swell and a warm feeling filled the pit of her stomach. It was humbling, she thought, in a way, that she could look up at the sky every night and see the being that had made her what she was, that had provided her with life again. She was sure where she came from, which was a lot more than anyone else could say about themselves. She wanted to call out to her partner and the others who were too wrapped up in their own little worlds' to notice the moon shining in, but Sandy covered it. He grabbed an elf by the point of its hat, and shook it violently, the little bell rattling about until the Guardians were looking at the quiet little man, and then he proceeded to drop the elf on the floor and point to the skylight, which finally made everyone notice the moon was there.

"Ah! Man in moon!" North proclaimed, a large smile on his face. He turned back around to the oldest Guardian and shook his head slightly. "Sandy, why didn't you say something?" he asked, and Sandy looked extremely annoyed. "It had been a long time old friend! What is big news?"

And while the Guardians all moved forward into the bright white light of the moon, Eleanor hung back, not entirely sure why she was there, but just wondering how she could leave now to let them get on with their jobs. Standing quietly, she shrugged the heavy coat off and bit her lip at the chill she suddenly felt, before she hung the coat over the back of the chair and moved silently towards one of the windows, wondering if she could prise it open and slip out. She had her fingers pressed against the cold glass when she froze, a million colours were dancing against the walls, and she gasped lightly as she turned around. There was a large crystal that seemed to have risen from the floor... the moon was casting some particular light through it, and an image of a boy she knew only too well manifested itself above the crystal, smiling coyly at them all.

"Jack Frost?!" the Pooka cried, and he sounded outraged. Golden-brown eyes flickered over to the group, and she listened as they argued between themselves. Aster was the one to carry on, and he was becoming more irritated by the second. "He doesn't care about children! All he does is freeze water pipes and mess with my egg hunts. All right, he's an irresponsible, selfish-"

"Guardian," cut in North, nodding his head lightly before turning his head to see Eleanor approaching slowly. She stared up at the milky image of the boy that was like a brother, and she grinned.

"He'd make a good Guardian," she said quietly, and Aster looked at her, appalled.

"Jack Frost is a lot of things, but he is not a Guardian," he shot, and Eleanor shook her head at him, stepping forward and taking his hand, squeezing it gently to try and calm him down. She had her reasons for thinking Jack would be a good Guardian, but she realised Aster wouldn't accept it now. He was too wound up to listen to her now, and her words would fall on deaf (and probably angry) ears.

"Bunny, we still need to see if he's willing to try to be a Guardian. Mani chose him, it's destiny," reasoned Tooth, who wrung her hands in front of her, before she jerked back into action and started talking about teeth in different sectors across the globe to her mini fairies.

"Yeah, we'll see about that," he grumbled, and his expression was sour.

"Come on, now," Eleanor whispered, stroking her fingers through the fur on his arm and she looked up into his vivid green eyes, and they softened ever so slightly. "I know you're still hacked off from when he ruined your egg hunt, but he's not all bad."

"You would say that," he snapped, looking away pointedly, "you're best friends with him."

"And your point is?" Eleanor snapped as she let go of his arm and crossed hers, her hip jutting out. "Yes, we are best friends, and I haven't seen him properly in ages because you two have this stupid feud going on! He's helped me loads over the years."

"Name three times," Aster challenged, and the couple didn't notice how the other Guardians were watching their lovers tiff with morbid curiosity.

"Okay!" the Summer spirit spat, scowling in earnest. "He helped me get away from Martin after the picnic where he tried to get me drunk. He took me home and comforted me as best he could during the war, even though I couldn't see him, he tried to stop me going to the party that night I died. He drug me out from under an ice sheet when I went under on a pond, and I can't swim. He stopped Pitch hurting me during the second world war, and most importantly Aster, he was the one who led me and roger to you when I was six. If it weren't for him I wouldn't have even met you!"

There was a stunned silence in the room. She'd heard the collective gasp when she'd mentioned Pitch in the second world war, but all the Guardians knew he had clawed his way out into the open to revel in the pain of the world. But nobody had realised that Jack Frost – selfish, irresponsible Jack Frost – had been such an influence. And Aster couldn't argue with any of it because it was all true. He simply stared blankly at her, his body tense and rigid as he looked at her, his eyes wide. Eleanor knew he didn't know how to respond, and her folded arms relaxed and they dropped by her sides, and she took a small step towards him.

"I know he can be a pain in the neck. I know he can be very stupid and very selfish... but his heart's in the right place, so please try and give him a chance," she pleaded quietly, raising her arm again and running her fingertips over his ears calmly, and the Pooka relaxed instantly, but stepped away, embarrassed about the other Guardians watching.

"Look, love, I'll try. But if he pushes it..." Aster paused, looking back at the crystal where the image of Jack floated above it, white and shimmering. "I'll go get him. I know where he'll be."

"Bunny, you'll be nice won't you?" Tooth chipped in, biting her lip.

"I'll be so sweet it'll give him cavities," the rabbit chuckled, leaving Tooth rolling her eyes, but all the Guardians smiled. Eleanor giggled a little, accepting the goodbye kiss he planted on her cheek, and she whispered to him;

"You better be."


	45. Chapter 45

So I broke my knuckle today.

How you ask?

I was pretending I was North. I had a long wallpaper tube as my sword, and I was fighting off Pitch, because he was trying to steal the Christmas presents.

I hit my hand on the doorframe.

I broke my knuckle, and bruised a couple more.

I'm 19.

I regret nothing.

On that note however, it's very painful to type, and I'd love it if you guys could just bare with me for a small while so I can heal up... stories will be put on hold for a while, and I would love it if everyone who has no voted on my poll for which story to do next could go and do so, that'd be ace. And I know I'm asking a lot, but it would mean I don't have to try and write and post an additional three stories to the two I'm doing already. Five stories on the go? I don't think so. I'm not an amazing author like Rowling, or Joyce.

I'm just a 19 year old girl with a broken hand.

Please... think of the broken hand.

Vote ;)

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She'd wanted to wait for Aster and Jack to get back, but she'd had to go and help Summer move to Autumn in the Southern hemisphere, so she'd bid North, Tooth and Sandy goodbye and flashed away, appearing again over the coast of Mexico and she swooped down, darting between the leaves of large palm trees until she could change into her human form again and land softly on the ground, her toes curling into the dying grass.

"Eleanor!" came a cry, and the brunette whirled around, eyes wide as the Swedish girl ran her way, looking panic stricken. "Eleanor, you need to help me!"

"Tommy what's wrong?" she asked, rushing forward and taking hold of the girls hand.

"It's just wrong, look, come on I'll show you!" she cried, pulling the Summer spirit forward and down the street. The sight before them shocked Eleanor still, struck her and she stared in wonder at the anomaly before her, and though Tommy had seen it before, she couldn't help but grip the other girls' hand and gulp slightly.

Before them, in the cove, was a large pillar of ice, rising up from the sea and towering above the town, the people staring in equal shock and wonder. It had been carved in such a way that it seemed to resemble something, and Eleanor swept her eyes over the people of the town and saw that in one spot, they seemed more afraid than shocked. Without saying a word Eleanor slipped away from Tommy, walking slowly through the crowd, ignoring how people passed through her and how it felt like ice was stabbing through her, and she looked up from the middle of the small group who looked petrified. There, in the heart of the pillar of ice, was something that had been carved out, and the closer she looked, the more detail she was able to make out. Two eyes... a long nose... and then a beard that started from the face she was able to make out and seemed to merge into the pillar itself. The face of this man, whoever he was, was embedded in the ice. He was one with it.

"What do you think it means?" she asked quietly, turning and looking at Tommy, who had followed her to the spot and was staring up like she had been, but instead of looking curious, Tommy had paled considerably, and looked sick to her stomach. "Tommy? Autumn, what's wrong?" she asked, and it only seemed when she used the girls' full name did she get her attention.

"Winter," she muttered, her bright blue eyes seemed sad and scared. "I have been around a long time, Eleanor, and I remember the days of Winter before Jack... and before North. It was a terrible time, and he..." she looked up at the face of the man, and Eleanor followed her gaze, her heart stopping as she realised the eyes of the man seemed focused on her, and before she hadn't noticed it, but now he was wearing a cruel smirk upon his face which his beard and moustache grew around. She didn't know why she thought it was cruel, but she could find no other words to describe it. "He ruled Winter..."

Eleanor looked at Tommy, who looked at her too. But whatever colour remained in the other girls' cheeks faded quickly, and she cried out and grabbed Eleanor, pulling her sharply towards her, dragging her along as she ran down the path. Eleanor barely had chance to look around and she saw something that chilled her bones.

In the midst of the crowd was a man, probably about the same height as Pitch, his shoulders hunches, his body thin and seemingly brittle, and he was looking at her with such contempt that she felt the overpowering need to glare back as she ran with Tommy. His eyes were a flashing grey, cold and deadly, like the sharp side of a knife, and they cut through her. Read her. There was such wisdom in his eyes and in every line of his face, but there was malice too. Though she wanted to run and not look back, she found herself slowing, ignoring Tommy who tugged her arm, ignoring the people milling about to look at the pillar of ice, she felt the need to oppose him. This man was her opposite. He was cold and she was hot, and she was good while he... well, she felt an evilness radiating from him, but she didn't know. He had a long nose, and even in the fair warmth of the Autumn, he had a dusting of snow over his robe and hair, and icicles were hanging from him.

She'd never been against the cold before, never opposed climates different to hers, but she disliked this man instantly, and in a burst of flames she was soaring upward into the sky, rising higher and higher, until she turned around and plummeted back down towards the earth, aiming for the column of ice. Building up speed, she summoned heat to her body, spread it through her, and the faster she got the hotter she got, until her wings and body were just a blur of flame hurtling through the air. When she was mere seconds from the pillar she closed her eyes, feeling the heat within her body explode outwards, and she heard a colossal crack, and then something burst. It sounded like glass breaking, and she swooped upwards again, into the air, and she looked down briefly to see the pillar was collapsing, and the townsfolk fleeing in fear it may topple their way. But it wouldn't, and she circled as it fell backwards in lumps into the sea, churning up the water. There were only two figures then that she was bothered to focus on. Tommy, who was staring up in mild shock and awe. And the old man... who was staring at her with hatred bound in every fibre of his being.

She swooped down again, and simply because she wanted to get them away from this new and intimidating being, she grabbed Tommy's shirt in her talons and they both were engulfed in flames. She heard Tommy screaming, but she was unharmed, it would have just been the shock. Dropping her on the soft grass below them both, Eleanor changed her form again and crouched by the auburn haired girl who was retching on the grass.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently, resting her hand on the other girls' shoulder.

"You're never doing that again!" she hissed, clutching at her stomach as she panted, shivering.

"I don't intend to, but I figured we were better getting away from there..." Eleanor defended herself, pouting at the other girl. Slowly Tommy nodded, biting her lip and standing upright, her arms wrapping around her chest as if she were hugging herself and her bright eyes were cast down.

"I've not seen him since... well, for a few years. Not since before North was in charge. It's not good..."

"Who is he?" the Summer spirit pressed, resting her hands gently on Tommy's shoulders, shaking her slightly. "Is he dangerous?"

Tommy seemed to freeze where she was, her eyes fixed on the ground, and she bit her lip slightly, breathing deeply. Eleanor noticed how she seemed so afraid, and she wondered vaguely if this being she'd seen, the one who apparently held so much contempt for her, was worse than Pitch. She'd known Pitch before her death and she had opposed him, but he'd never wronged her. This new being, this man of ice, seemed to hate her and she'd never seen him in her life before. Apparently he was an ancient being, but she didn't know what she had to do with anything, because simply by judging his appearance, she assumed he was something of a Winter spirit... like Jack.

"He's... we know him as Old Man Winter. I don't think he has a name... one day he just rose from the snow and he's a very, very cruel man. Eleanor, promise me you'll be careful?"

"I'm always careful," the brunette chuckled, but it seemed half hearted, and Tommy nodded a little before she turned and walked away, leaving Eleanor to stand on her own in the long grass, considering everything that had happened.


	46. Chapter 46

Hey so my hand still really hurts. I broke my knuckle and the base of my middle finger, and I ripped all the ligaments. I'm still typing though because to be frank, I love writing. I've worked out most of my writers funk, so yeah :D I have aquodox and HerHiddenSecret to thank for that, so thanks guys!

I was wondering if you guys could check out a one shot I've written too for RotG, featuring Sandy, called **'The Pills Don't Bring Sweet Dreams'**.

I wrote it at something like 5 this morning, and I actually adore it, so please if you could, read and review that :)

Thanks all, and enjoy this chapter too!

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"Jack?" she called out, brushing her fingers through her hair as she looked through the snow. She knew Jack had made it snow here, and it was only days before Easter, and God... she didn't want a repeat of "68... but the white powder on the ground set her on edge after seeing Old Man Winter, and with an angry sigh she blasted some heat at a small bank of snow, and watched in mild satisfaction as it melted away. Eleanor looked about at the trees, sighing and curling her toes beneath her, making sure not to slip on the ice she was stood on, and she looked down, musing how years before when she had met Jack she'd ended up beneath that ice, and who knew what might have happened? As a spirit, could she drown?

The longer she spent alone in the ice and snow, the jumpier she felt. Every breeze and every rustle of the leaves sent her twitching, and eventually she sighed frustratedly and turned on her heel, jogging through the forest and down to the town, bursting out through the thinning trees onto a suburban street, breathing in and swallowing a lungful of air that seemed free, and sweet, and wonderful. Every breath within the trees seemed to suffocate her.

The town seemed eerily quiet as she wandered, and she clenched her jaw tightly as she looked about her, half expecting something to come charging at her any second, awaiting some blast of cold air that would send her reeling. None came, so she pressed on, but there was something that made her feel a little on edge... or at least more so than she already was. She followed her gut and ended up on a quiet lane, where the homes were less brick and more wood, where everything was bright and warm, and she felt more at home. A crash from a nearby house roused her attention and with a bound she went forward, climbing up the gutter as fast as she could before peering into a bedroom window, her jaw dropping at the sight.

"Tooth? North?" she asked in a whisper, noticing the little boy asleep in the bed they were stood around. She looked at the Guardians again and saw with them Sandy and Jack, and she smiled a little as she crept into the room, accepting a hug from her Wintery brother. "What are you doing here?"

"Collecting the teeth," North muttered, but his deep voice still carried and she small group hushed him.

"Why?" the brunette asked, turning to look at the child. He was probably about ten, with dark brown hair. She saw the greyhound curled at his feet and she smiled fondly, remembering what seemed lifetimes ago, to her old pet and fondest friend, Roger. She'd not thought about him in decades, and she felt sad to be doing so now after so long.

"Pitch stole all my fairies," Tooth mumbled, and Eleanor felt her jaw drop in shock, but it didn't stop her reaching out to the other woman and pulling her into a hug. Comfort from men was one thing, but sometimes you just needed a hug from a girl. It felt more motherly, and it could comfort you more. "And all the teeth... if we don't collect them and keep giving children happy memories..."

"They won't believe in her any more," North finished awkwardly, and Eleanor felt herself at a loss. She'd known Pitch for the majority of her life... and it seemed so unlike him to be so cruel. Oh, she knew he was the nightmare king, and she knew he could be quite mean and snide... and he didn't really care about anything other than himself, as she'd witnessed in the war. But to deliberately torment another being like himself, to try and stop people believing in Tooth. That seemed low, even for him.

"What's he doing it for?" she asked, her golden-brown eyes flitting from North's bright blue ones, to Sandy's amber eyes, then Tooth's magenta eyes, and finally she met with the icy depths of Jacks blue orbs, and she gulped.

"If people stop believing in us, then everything we stand for disappears... and we do too."

That news seemed to hit the youth in her stomach, and then panic swelled in her, and she looked about the room for the one person that was missing, for the one who was most important to her, and the one whom she held dearest in her heart.

"Where's Aster!" she cried, whipping her head around as if hoping he would just appear in mid air, grinning at her and shouting surprise.

"He's fine, he's fine," Tooth eased her, pulling Eleanor into a hug of her own. "He's just off getting teeth, we'll meet up with him again!"

Her voice was soothing, and no sooner had Eleanor been released from the warm embrace did they hear a deep voice in the corner with that sweet Australian twang.

"Oh, I see how it is... all working together to make sure the rabbit gets last place."

Aster leapt up from a tunnel that had morphed into the floorboards, and North shushed him and gestured to the bed, while Eleanor beamed at him. For the briefest of seconds he smiled back at her, though he did look confused as to why she was there, until the peace was broken by Jack, who seemed intent on showing off.

"You think I need help to beat a bunny?" he asked, and Eleanor groaned.

"Jack..." she started, but he ignored her and carried on, pulling out a small back of teeth from jumper.

"Check it out Peter Cottontail!" he said with a grin, and Eleanor watched as Aster rolled his eyes and reached for his own bag.

"You call that a bag of choppers?" he asked, then held up his own bag, which was substantially larger than Jacks. "Now _that's_ a bag of choppers."

She went to intervene again, but North stepped forward, and for a second she and Tooth smiled at one another, as it seemed an older, wiser person was stopping the childish shenanigans... but then it became apparent that North only wanted to prove he'd beaten the two, as his hand wrapped firmly around the neck of a large sack that seemed to rustle with the sound of teeth brushing against one another.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," he laughed, stepping between them. "This is about Tooth! It is not a competition... but if it was-" at this point he slammed down the sack which seemed to rattle the room and grinned, "-I win!"

Eleanor felt herself leap forward, grabbing hold of North's arm as he celebrated to make him stop before he woke the boy, but it was too late, and she saw the glare of a flashlight his her in the eyes and she dropped with a squeak to the floor, rubbing her eyes.

"Santa Clause..." came a hushed voice, and she looked up stricken as the little boy shone his light about them all, his brown eyes growing wider with each of the beings he saw at the foot of his bed. "The Easter Bunny?" he asked, and Aster laughed nervously.

"Sandman?" the child asked, and Sandy smiled and waved slightly, seeming much calmer about this than anyone else.

"The Tooth Fairy! I knew you'd come!" he cried, and Tooth smiled at him.

"Surprise! We came," she laughed, looking nervously at the rest of the group. Eleanor stood slowly, grasping hold of Asters hand as he pulled her up, and she huddled into his side, holding her breath for some reason she didn't know nor wanted to find out, she just felt the need to, and she stared at this boy that had caught them all out.

"He can see us?" Jack asked, voicing the thoughts the Summer spirit didn't know she had, but sounded so right... and it crushed her heart when Aster spoke up.

"Most of us..."

He pulled her closer into his side, and she released the breath, sighing, realising that the light flitted over her to focus on her partner, and the little boys eyes never met hers, however hard she stared at him. The same happened to Jack, and she slipped out of Aster's embrace, despite his silent protests, and she stood beside Jack, taking his hand and squeezing it slightly, a gesture he returned, and they shared the silent consolation that at least someone knew how it felt.

"You guys, he's still awake!" Tooth whispered urgently, as if the fact had only just dawned on her.

"Quick Sandy, knock him out!" Aster said, but when Sandy cracked his knuckled and balled his hands into fists threateningly, Eleanor burst out laughing and the Pooka rolled his eyes in exasperation. "With the dream sand ya gumbys!"

And at that second, the greyhound at the foot of the bed shot up, and started snarling, her nose twitching in the Pooka's direction, and with a lurch Eleanor found herself beside Aster again, ready to intervene if needs be. The dog looked lovely, but she was obviously very protective of the boy, glaring in all of their directions, but her natural instinct was ruling over, and she was quickly becoming focused on Aster, him being a rabbit and all.

"No, stop! That's the Easter Bunny! What are you doing Abbi? Down!" the boy cried, and Eleanor instinctively stood in front of Aster, aware that all eyes that could see her were on her, and her Pooka was trying to nudge her out of the way, weary about her safety as she was his.

"It's alright... nobody panic," Aster said calmly, placing his bag down on the floor before easing Eleanor out of the way, and they shared a look. She remembered last time a greyhound had gotten hold of him, all those years ago when she met him that very first time. The scene seemed to flash before her eyes and she could smell the sweet Spring grass, feel the damp of the dew clinging to each blade. She could remember staring into the thick bush and feeling shocked and surprised when a pair of vivid green eyes stared back.

"But that's a, um, that's a greyhound," Jack said, snapping Eleanor from her flashback. "Do you know what greyhounds do to rabbits?"

"Jack, you know full well what they do," Eleanor snapped, and the dogs eyes flitted to her for a second. "Last time one got hold of him it nearly ripped his leg off."

"Thanks for reminding me flower," Aster muttered, but he squared up to the dog, staring at her and trying to seem tough in front of the other Guardians, but the image of his bloodied leg seemed fresh in his mind now and it was all too clear how badly the dog could hurt him if it got hold of him... and in such a confined space too, Aster would struggle to get away. "But I think it's a pretty safe bet he's never met a rabbit like me. Six foot one, nerves of steel, master of Tai Chi and-"

Eleanor was sure Aster would have carried on listing all of his testosterone filled atributes, but a movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she saw Jack tap the alarm clock on the bedside table, and before she could do anything to stop it the ringing had set the dog off, and Abbi dove for Aster, while he jumped and tried to bolt from the dog, both of them ricocheting off every surface of the room.

"Jack!" Eleanor cried, diving for the alarm clock and knocking it off, while Sandy tried to make the dog sleep with a ball of dream sand. The golden ball bounced around the room too, and Eleanor just managed to hide under the bed before everyone else in the room was knocked unconscious.

The bed above her seemed to bow dramatically as North fell upon it, and she could see Aster lying on the other side of the bed, a look of contentedness spread across his face as he hugged himself closer to North's arm that was slung over the side of the bed. She would have smiled if the situation hadn't been so stupid. Crawling out from under the bed, she saw Sandy lying the little boy down, and she saw Jack grinning.

"You idiot!" she hissed, standing upright and smacking the teen in the side of the head.

"Idiot?" he cried, his mouth falling open and he looked appalled.

"Yes!" the brunette shouted. "Despite the fact that you know, _you know Jack_, what greyhounds have done to Aster before now, you riled another one up enough so that it'd chase him, you messed this whole thing up!"

"What do you mean I messed up? The dog knocked Sandy so the dream sand-"

"The dog knocked Sandy because you set it off!" she hissed, and her anger was swelling, and Jack seemed to shrink beneath her gaze. "If you'd not done that then Sandy could have just made the boy and his dog go back to sleep, and we could all have carried on looking for teeth... I could have helped, but how are we supposed to find them with Tooth asleep like this?"

"I-I didn't think," Jack muttered, trying to defend himself.

"Well that's obvious, isn't it Jack?" the girl huffed, but the dejected look on Jack's face was enough to make her feel guilty, and slowly she reached out for him again. "Look, I know you didn't mean to Jack... but sometimes there's having fun, and then there's... taking it too far."

"Well it wouldn't be the first time I've screwed up," Jack muttered, and anger flashed in his eyes as he wrenched his arm from her grasp. "I mean, hell, if I'd not screwed up years ago then Bunny would never have been attacked by that other greyhound, and we'd all be happier, wouldn't we?"

"Jack-" Eleanor started, feeling hurt stab at her heart, but a snort from the window startled her, and she looked quickly, her eyes meeting with glowing golden sockets of a skeletal horse, it's mane swaying about it as if like smoke in the wind. But it glittered, and with a jolt she realised it was black sand.

Jack wasted no time in leaping past her as the sand creatures fled, grinning again as he watched them go before following in hot pursuit. His cry echoed to them both.

"Sandy, Eleanor, come on we can find Pitch!"

The brunette looked down at the smaller man worriedly, but they knew they couldn't leave Jack out there on his own, and as much as she didn't want to fight a man who hadn't wronged her, he was actively endangering her friends, and she would sooner stand up for them... and Jack could be in danger for doing the same.

With a burst of energy she soared from the window in her phoenix form, picking up speed considerably as she followed Jack and the sand horses, and she knew Sandy was close behind her. Jack had shot off in one direction to get one horse, while Sandy chased another one through a factory. The final one, the largest of the lot, seemed less intent on fleeing, and more intent on turning the chase on her. Unafraid she met the beast head on, feeling her head pound as they crashed together, but she expelled her energy outwards, feeling the flames lick about her and she morphed again, landing upon a rooftop beside the sand horse. But her heat had turned it into glass, and it looked – in it's own sinister way – beautiful. Light flickered off the black glass it had become, attracting her to it, but she knew it was evil, and she picked up her staff from the side of her, near a vent where it had fallen, and swung at the creature, shattering it.

"Not a fan of nightmares?" came a soft voice, and she whirled around to see Pitch stood on a rooftop above her, smiling down.

"What are you doing?" she cried, clenching her fists and bracing herself for an onslaught of... something. Anger, or perhaps an attack, but nothing came.

"Nothing much," he chuckled, disappearing, and she heard a shout from a rooftop close by, and she leapt the gap to get there, the cold air around her making her aware that Jack was there or nearby she looked briefly to see a patch of frozen black ice, and that mus have been the nightmare he was chasing. He jumped up onto the roof beside her, poking the nightmare with his staff.

"I got it! Sandy, Eleanor, did you see that?" he cried, turning to her and beaming. "Look at this thing," he added on, and Eleanor crept closer, biting her lip as she watched the shadow like ribbons of its mane slowly stop moving, the ice freezing it solid. She would have stepped closer, had she not seen something move in the shadows behind Jack, and she gasped lightly.

"Frost?" Pitch asked, before shrinking back into the shadows, and reappearing upon a higher rooftop. "You know, for a neutral party you spend an awful lot of time with those weirdos."

"Hey!" Eleanor cried indignantly, and the Nightmare King chuckled at her and shook his head.

"Of course you're rather attached to them, aren't you Nora? What with your relationship with that rabbit," he laughed, shaking his head. "I actually expected you to get involved at some point or other, but..." his head turned back to Jack, brushing Eleanor off to the side and leaving her fuming. "This isn't your fight Jack."

"You made it my fight when you stole those teeth!" Jack said angrily, and Eleanor found herself nodding in approval of the Winter spirit.

"Teeth?" Pitch asked, and she looked up at him again, searching those bright eyes to try and seek some information from them. Right now he seemed merely curious, giving Jack that same inquisitive look he'd given her time and time again. "What do you care about the teeth?"

Jack was about to speak up, when Sandy suddenly appeared beside Pitch, making the taller man scuttle sideways, which made Eleanor smirk at the irony. Pitch, the Nightmare King, the giver of fear, was afraid of Sandy. She saw why. A fight quickly broke out between the two, and as Jack dove under a large black sand pickaxe that Pitch conjured to attack Sandy, Eleanor jumped over it, gasping as it snagged her dress a little, and she watched, stunned, as Sandy used golden whips to fling the taller man up into the air, before slamming him against brick walls, and hurling him her way.

There was an almighty collision, she felt the wind leave her stomach, and the pair of them hurtled off the side of the building and into the street. Pitch hit the hood of a parked car, setting off the alarms, while Eleanor smacked into the solid wall of the shop across the road from them, and landing with a soft groan upon a parasol.

As she gathered her senses she could hear Pitch begging for forgiveness, explaining himself weakly before his voice turned suddenly snide... there was going to be a bigger fight than this. She knew Pitch wouldn't go down that easily, and she braced herself.

"You can have them back."

Her head shot up as a thousand screams filled the air, horses whinnying and snorting from all directions, nightmares filling the streets. She jumped down from the parasol, standing beside Jack and holding her staff firmly in her hands, looking to Pitch as he watched her, an expression of mixed worry and anger flashed across his face, and she knew he didn't want her there. But he was set in his plan, whatever this was, and she wasn't going to let him win if she could help it. As she focused on the dark man, his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, and with a hint of a sinister smirk on his face, he leaned towards the small group encircled by fear and nightmares, and blurted in a cruel, mocking voice;

"Boo!"


	47. Chapter 47

I'm in a really evil mood :3

I managed to dislocate my shoulder, and pop it back in. I wasn't pretending to be a Guardian this time though. I was just doing a Beyoncé dance and I fell. I do that a lot. I shall 'single ladies' no more.

But no, I'm just feeling very negatively, so I shall be writing a lot more angst for this fic.

In the meantime, please read the other fic I wrote at 5 the other morning and posted, completely ignoring the poll lol

**'The Pills Don't Bring Sweet Dreams'**

Cheers you lot!

* * *

"Boo!"

The nightmares surged forward, and while Eleanor saw the whips flying out from Sandy's hands, she used her staff to shoot heat through the sand creatures, blasting them with flames so intense they turned to glass before her. Striking the glass creatures, they shattered, and she turned to the next one rearing up at her, intent on stamping on her head. Before she could do anything though, she saw the sleigh speed down the street and take to the air again, weaving hectically through the air, on a path to destruction. It bumped against a rooftop as it sped up again, and she heard muffled yells from those within, assuming they were still drowsy from the dream sand and the shock had just woken them up. The girl was going to fly up to help them, but a hand grabbed her wrist and she felt the wind rushing past her, and she was being propelled into the air with Sandy and Jack, the nightmares in hot pursuit.

She screamed as she saw Sandy let go of Jack, and the boy shot off through the air a little, before turning back and attacking the nightmares that had followed him. And she felt the small man's fingers loosening on her wrist, and with a twist she turned her hand and grabbed hold of him, not leaving him alone in this. They stopped, high in the air, and Sandy pulled her onto his sand cloud. The nightmares circled them, forming some whirlpool of destruction around them, every now and then a nightmare horse would charge towards them and Sandy would either whip it back, or Eleanor would shoot an intense heat at it, freezing it in it's tracked, leaving it to fall through the air and shatter below.

"There's too many!" she screamed, looking briefly to Sandy, who bit his lip in response, and she did the only thing she could think of, hurling herself forward into the midst of them, cringing as they wrapped about her, pulling and scratching, before she morphed, her flames licking out and freezing the nightmares closer to her, and with a push she burst through them, rising up into the air, and focusing her energy as best she could, reaching a point in the air where she stopped ascending, turned on her tail and dived right back into the brawl, bursting into flames and streaking through half the encircling enemy. She could feel them becoming solid and brittle as she rushed through them, watched as they froze, panic in those dying eyes, and they fell to their demise.

She rose again, knowing now that she had a small group of them following her because she was too capable of destroying them, and as one of the nightmares clamped it's sharp teeth into her tail feathers, she expelled a burst of energy, freezing it, but in the process it ripped her feathers out as it fell. She shrieked out in protest before turning back, feeling a little unbalanced as she rushed back down, flaming again, shooting through them all like an arrow. More fell, but more seemed to replace them, and they were becoming more intent on ripping her feathers out. She couldn't balance properly as she sped through the air, outrunning them by mere feet, her heart racing as she tried her hardest to stay out of their grasp. It was then she noticed Pitch on a sand cloud all his own, and what he had in his hands made her heart leap into her throat. Something sharp, jagged, black... a dart of sorts, and he was aiming for Sandy.

With a scream she saw him loose it, and she dived, wondering if she could deflect it before it hit the Guardian. But she couldn't. She was a second behind it, and she saw as the black dart sank into the smaller man's back, and the golden sand became tainted. Morphing again in the air, she landed on the golden sand cloud, barely registering that it was shrinking, and the nightmares were coming closer.

"Sandy! Sandy, hold on," she cried, holding the smaller man up. He glanced at her briefly, before his head swivelled in the direction of Pitch.

"Don't fight the fear little man!" the Nightmare King cackled, and Eleanor felt a hatred for him built up as bile within her throat. Sandy collapsed next to her, and she couldn't think of anything she could do except hold his hand, watch his light trickle away. The golden cloud beneath her was turning black, and she could feel the sting of the nightmares nipping at her, but she wasn't leaving the Guardian alone.

"Sandy, please," she begged, wrapping her arm around him, feeling hope raise within her slightly as he pushed himself up, standing upright, but the way he offered her a soft smile, it seemed apologetic, and he closed his eyes. Her heart dropped, and as tears blinded her eyes she whispered a defiant 'no'.

"I'd say sweet dreams... but there aren't any left..."

With a flash of golden light, her hand was empty, the Guardian was gone, Sandy was no more, and the shadows and nightmares around her closed in, biting at her, ripping at her, and she cried out as she tried to fight back but felt too weak to do so. She was caught in a wave of them, and they dragged her back as she tried to fight through, pulling her back to where Pitch was. She saw his golden eyes glinting at her and felt his long thin fingers close around her wrist, and because she felt too weak to pull her wrist away she lurched forward and sank her teeth into his hand, earning herself a sharp slap across the face, but he let go. Turning blindly she saw Jack flying through the air towards them, and with a lurch she felt the nightmares move again, and she was being thrust forward towards Jack. The nightmares engulfed him, and she felt her body crash into his in mid air, then there was a blast of cold, ice shot through her veins, and the nightmares were gone... it was bright again, and they were falling. Her staff was rolling through the air beside her, and Jack was on her other side. She was conscious that he had his eyes closed, his staff was leaving his fingers, so she reached out, grabbed it and pressed it to his chest, ignoring the pain shooting through her fingers, and she saw Tooth fly up to them, arms outstretched.

"Catch him!" Eleanor cried, and Tooth did, returning him safely to the sleigh. But there wasn't enough time for her to return for the Summer spirit, and Eleanor braced herself, tucking her arms close to her chest as she felt the first branch crack against her legs, and she flipped, her stomach hitting the next branch which gave under her too. She cried out as her head smacked against the trunk of the tree and then the ground met her, and she lay there immobile, gasping for breath.

Face down, she was breathing in cold air while glass tickled her face and ice slowly numbed her bones. She wanted to move, but her body protested, each limb aching, and with a low moan she dragged her arm upwards along the cold ground, looking as deep purple bruises formed on her skin. It sank in slowly that she was freezing, and it was something she'd never felt before... someone in the crossfire of Pitch's attack and Jack's retaliation, she'd been hurt... and lying in the snow now wasn't helping her. She needed to find her staff, and she could sense it was close by, but she couldn't find the strength. Her body was aching, but her heart was in worse condition. She'd seen one of her Guardians die, held his hand as he'd vanished... Sandy...

"Eleanor!" came a cry, deep and bellowing, with that Australian twang. She wanted to shout back to Aster, but her voice died in her throat. Her golden-brown eyes were scanning the forest floor around her, she knew her staff wasn't far off, and she needed it desperately. She felt lost without it now. She saw it, among the leaves, and reached out, her fingers brushing against it and immediately warmth spread through her, and she found she could breath again.

Her name was being shouted again and again, multiple voices echoing in the night. She wanted to shout back, but the warmth spreading through her body was making her tired, and she lay there, resigning herself to sleeping for a small while. It was then she felt hands touch her arm gingerly, and she let her eyes flicker open again, still feeling exhausted. Green eyes were fixed on hers, and she heard him gasp, still panicking, but glad that they'd found her at the very least.

"Oh, sunflower..." he moaned, his fingers brushing against her cheek, and she winced in pain, realising she must have hit her face too.

"Oh, Bunny... look at her..." Tooth whispered, landing beside Eleanor on the cold grass, her fingers brushing through the girls' hair.

"Is Jack okay?" the brunette whispered, finding her voice at last. Her answer came when Jack nudged her staff closer to her, and she wrapped her fingers around it, sighing happily as she found the strength to push herself over onto her back, staring up at the sky. It seemed like all the stars had gone out... and with a small frown she remembered Sandy again, closing her eyes only to see him close his and vanish before her.

"We need to go, quickly," North said from a few feet away, looking around at the darkening forest.

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Aster inched closer to his mate who was still staring up at the sky, looking a bit bemused. He slid one of his arms under her knees, and slowly she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, allowing him to pull her up a little off the ground so he was able to hold her back with his other arm. Her arms dropped then, out of exhaustion, and Aster pulled her closer to his chest, looking down at her face worriedly as her eyes flickered closed again.

"Easy, sunflower... we'll patch you up," he whispered to her, before turning to Tooth again. "We need her staff, it's just there," he nodded to the staff on the ground, and Tooth nodded, picking it up and juggling it between her hands, trying to keep the heat off.

They all got into the sleigh, Aster sitting on the floor with Eleanor in his lap, holding her close and cradling her gently in his lap, careful of the bruises blooming over her pale skin, and she cuddled closer to him. The ride back to The Pole was quiet and subdued, each Guardian and the two spirits silent in their thoughts, if they could have done more, if they weren't fast enough... if they should have even left that bedroom without the others in the first place.

Eleanor felt the pain her body was in, but it was nothing to how her heart felt. Nothing to how anyone felt on that sleigh...

Sandy was gone.


	48. Chapter 48

Hey, so I've had a couple reviews lately from some absolutely lovely people saying that though they think my story is very good and they enjoy reading it, I do have a couple of issues with grammar and structure and so on. It's lovely because I'm getting the constructive help I need :D

I admit, it's probably because I have a touch of writers' block, I simply write something and think "well, that's an achievement" and leave it as that, because I can't find the motivation to go back and read it over. As for structure and grammar, I am working on it, but I also write a lot of my stuff really late at night and again, it's the "can't be arse"-ed ness of it all that's my downfall. So I will be trying to take more care and attention to things. I do tend to write things similarly to how I talk, and being a Manchester lass I'm not the most grammatically correct out there xD

But I will be working on things now, and if any of you have read chapters where you think something really doesn't read correctly or doesn't make sense, then message me and I will go back and correct that, but of course you'd need to give me a chapter and the excerpt from the chapter that doesn't read right, with what exactly it is.

I was also thinking of recruiting a beta reader, but I don't know how it works and I don't know if anyone else out there works at the same pace I do. I tend to write a chapter and a half for a single story a day, I can even manage a chapter for another story too if I set my mind to it (I really am trying to power through this block I have), and I wouldn't want to alter that much, because it keeps me going and all that. Trust me, if I left it off for a couple days I'd find it hard getting back into the swing of things xD

If anyone is interested in proofing for me, please drop a message, I'd be grateful for the help, but yeah, other than that I'll be trying to fix as much as I can by myself.

Anyways... enjoy :)

* * *

She'd found her way back into the quiet room she remembered sitting in on the night after the second world war had ended, curled up on the windowsill and staring out over the icy wastes of the Pole. The wind was again whipping up snow flurries that fogged the horizon and made the sun that had been high in the sky for hours glow a pale white instead of the warm orange she was used to. She had her cheek pressed against the cold glass, and she slowly let her eyes close, letting sleep take her.

It felt like she'd only blinked before she felt soft hands on her, felt fur brush against her cheek and Aster was pulling her gently into his arms again and she felt too tired and weak to resist him.

"We're going home, flower," he whispered to her. "We need to bring Easter to the world, yeah?"

"Aster, after Easter I need to tell you something," she muttered, and his dead stillness, his silence told her he wanted to know what it was now, but in her mind he already had so much to be concerned about. What with Pitch being out there causing havoc, he shouldn't have to worry about this Old Man Winter character right now, but she would have to tell him eventually. She would have to tell all of them. "After Easter," she reiterated, and the Pooka only sighed slightly before muttering an agreement.

He carried her through to the main room, whispering reassuring words into her ears as she clutched her staff close to her, feeling safer with it than without. When he got near the fireplace she wriggled a little and asked to be put down, and he set her gently on her feet, kissing her nose as she steadied herself, turning on her heel and walking slowly to the slats in the floor that portrayed each of the Guardians. Her eyes flitted over each one individually, taking in the soft swirls around Tooth, the angular patterns around Aster and North, and the tendril like vines twisting around the tiny image of Sandy... they seemed to glow on their own, the patterns brighter than the stone around them. It seemed the only thing that served as a reminder that he had ever been.

Glancing up, she saw lights upon the globe flickering. Lights small as pinpricks vanishing, going out... people were starting to stop believing, and this disbelief was spreading faster than the plague.

"Look how fast they're going out," Tooth remarked, her voice trembling, tiny feathers falling from her body with the stress it was causing.

"It's fear..." Jack replied, leaping up into the air and soaring around the globe. "He's tipped the balance."

There was a second of silence, and Eleanor looked at North, who shared the same worried expression everyone in the room had, until Aster made a comment from behind them.

"Hey, buck up you sad sacks." Heads turned to see what he was doing, and though Eleanor could read the trepidation in his eyes, he was smiling as he bounced past her, landing on the control board for the globe and standing upright. The globe turned slowly, ironically displaying the Australian continent... all he needed was the blue flag flying behind him and some trumpeting and it would be as if he were making a plea to the nation. She smiled slightly, the whole image in her head seemed very elaborate and over the top, but it raised her spirits and she smiled up at him. "We can still turn this around! Easter is tomorrow, and I need your help. I say we pull out all the stops and we get those little lights flickering again."

"It's worth a try," Tooth said with a smile, clasping her hands together and smiling at Jack, who passed the grin on to North.

"I'll go get my coat," the oldest man cried, taking off down the hall with such speed it startled the Summer spirit, making her laugh. Jack burst into the air again, speeding around the globe, smiling slightly but still looking incredibly worried about the lights that were rapidly going out. Tooth stayed by Eleanors' side as Aster looked to the globe too, and Eleanor felt the other woman's hand land softly on her shoulder.

"What you did... fighting against Pitch... we all think it was very brave," she said quietly, and Eleanor watched as Aster's ears twitched, and she knew he was listening.

"It didn't help though, did it?" the younger girl asked, looking into those big pinkish eyes.

"It was more than we were able to do, and you don't even have to be here helping us, you just choose to be."

"Pitch was always so nice to me," Eleanor burst, her hands balling into fists suddenly, and her tone rising. "He told me my sister was in danger, he's helped me and kept me company and I can't help but wonder why he's doing this... because I believed in him when I was alive, and I saw him... is there not one child that sees him nowadays without him having to turn the world into one living nightmare?"

"We should all be seen... we're here for a reason but sometimes it's not known to us and people... people don't appreciate that."

"Tooth, it's easy for you to say," Nora muttered, feeling guilty about voicing it but feeling the need to anyway. "It's not easy for anyone, really... but children world wide believe in you, most do anyway, and you're seen while you're caught in children's bedrooms taking their teeth. And Aster's seen when he runs through the woods hiding eggs, or when greyhounds catch up with him and children have to pull their pets off him. North gets caught by the Christmas tree every now and then... but Jack's never been seen, I've never been seen, so what are we doing wrong?"

There was a small silence following Eleanor's little outburst, but nobody seemed to be defying her. On the contrary Jack looked as though he agreed wholeheartedly, as if he'd wanted to say that to them for ages but hadn't been able to think of the right words. Tooth looked sad, and Eleanor pulled her into a hug because she really didn't want the woman to think she'd done something to deserve any hostility thrown her way. Aster looked sad too, but in a different sense. He'd known Eleanor had felt abandoned for years, but he'd never considered the idea that she or Jack may be doing something wrong. It seemed unfair to him the Mani chose some of them to be seen and to be protectors and Guardians. Others were seen but not heard, like the Ground Hog. Everyone in every state in America knew about groundhogs. Stupid little animals. They were celebrated once a year, had a day dedicated to them. But Jack and Eleanor. They came quietly every year, slipped in to spread happiness, eased their seasons in so it all worked like clockwork... but they were never celebrated. Sure, people might love Winter, or Summer, but they never really paid attention to Jack Frost and Eleanor.

In his eyes, they were doing nothing wrong... they just weren't recognised for what they did. People saw them as seasons. Aster brought Spring, but he was also the Easter Bunny, and people recognised him as that. Santa Clause had been a Winter figurehead for hundreds of years, the Tooth Fairy was legend... not many others were. They should be, but they weren't.

"We'll get that sorted sunflower. Things just take time..." Aster said gently, easing his way over to her then pulling her into a hug, having to hug Tooth too because Eleanor was still holding onto the other woman.

"Right..."

"Come, we must go make Easter!" came North's shout, and the group sighed, smiling slightly, before shifting themselves to walk towards North's office to meet the man. Tooth zipped off, Jack on her heels, but Aster took a second to turn to his love and entwine his fingers with hers, holding her hand gently before walking with her down the corridors.

"Bunny is right!" North cried, leading them through another door down to a lift, lowering themselves to the floor below them in the workshop. "As much as it pains me to say, old friend, this time Easter _is_ more important than Christmas."

The look on Aster's face was priceless, an initial shock crashed over him, before excitement and elation filled him and he literally bounced along after North, grinning.

"Did everyone hear that?" he asked, turning to them all briefly before following North again, who seemed eager to get the the floor below them again. Eleanor knew she sleigh was close by, and she longed so much to climb in and have a ride, but she knew Aster wouldn't. Not again. He hated being off the ground.

"We must hurry to the Warren," North carried on talking while the group followed. "Everyone, to the sleigh."

Eleanor was right, the look on her Pooka's face changed from one of happiness to one of reluctance and defiance. He was not getting in that sleigh - no way, no how. The brunette skipped after him as he skidded to a halt in front of the group, and she placed herself firmly behind him. She'd seen that twinkle of mischief in his eyes and she knew what was coming, but last time she'd gone down one of his tunnels on her backside she'd wound up feeling terribly sick. She wasn't doing that again... so she'd go down this one now, but she'd go on Aster's back like she used to do so long ago.

"Whoa no mate, my Warren, my rules. Buckle up."

With a stamp of his foot, a large hole opened in the ground beneath the others' feet. Eleanor watched with a slightly bemused expression as North, Jack and some yeti toppled down the hole, North's hand shooting up and grabbing hold of Tooth's ankle to drag her down the tunnel with him, everyone screaming as they went.

"Hop on," Aster said quietly to her, and she wasted no time in wrapping her arms around his neck and jumping up onto his back, her legs wrapping around him and she flattened herself against him. Wind rushed through her ears and various shades of green flickered upon her closed eyelids, light warm and bright tinting the usual black a shade of pink. The rushing ended and she turned to be dropped onto the floor, rolling in the grass and over the stone before looking and seeing the rest of the Guardians strewn about, North flat on his back, Tooth taking to the air again, looking very dizzy.

"Buckle up," North muttered, a laugh in his voice, sitting upright and grinning. "Is very funny."

"Welcome to the Warren!" Aster cried, gesturing about them. Eleanor noticed though, the sentinels seemed different, and then suddenly Aster's ears twitched back, and he turned, sniffing the air. "Something's up..."

Tiny eggs came running through one of the large stone arches in that second, and a high pitched wailing noise followed them. Everyone in the vicinity jumped to attention, Eleanor pushed herself up from the floor, not convinced that was a noise Pitch or any of his affiliates would make, and she called out to them to try and urge them to slow down but they were already charging forward. She slapped her hand up to her face, hurting her nose in the process, but she felt so embarrassed for them all that she didn't actually care, nor did she want to involve herself in this fiasco, so she dropped down to the floor, her face pressing into the long grass, and she prayed for the Earth to open up and swallow her. The pain of face planting the ground was considerably less than that she felt in her stomach as she watched from the corner of her eye as they continued to charge towards what turned out to be a three year old blond girl with bright green eyes.

"Kill me..." she whispered to the ground. "Just kill me now."

"Sophie?" she heard Jack ask, and she glanced at the hub to see everyone hide their weapons and try to look as innocent as possible. Groaning she pushed herself up, feeling tired and sore still.

"Well, I'm sure you can all handle this... I'm going to go find something to do," she said to nobody as she slipped off down one of the tunnels and head over into wide open fields of the Warren, strolling through long grass and treading softly over heather, her fingers reaching up to brush against the leaves of willow trees, and she found herself in the heart of the Warren. It was a place of happiness, and sadness to her, for so many reasons. This was her home now, this was where she slept with her partner and where they'd confessed their love for one another, when they were both certain they loved one another...

This was also where she'd come when she was alive. Where she'd lain and talked to him for hours on end. Where she had sought him after every problem she'd had, found solace in her best friend and now lover. This was a memory place for her for when she had a family... when she was seen and heard.

It was a reminder of her death in a sense, because since then she'd more or less become a ghost, and she was seen and heard now only in worlds people didn't think existed.

It was sad really...

Looking about she could see the tiny eggs making their way down the slope to the tunnels that led them to the top. She wondered vaguely about the little girl that had found her way into the Warren, but she figured they'd have it under wraps. Right now, Eleanor needed time to figure out who this Old Man Winter was, and where he might be right now.

She summoned as much energy as she could and burst into her phoenix form, happy that her feathers had already grown back and she felt herself healing. Spreading her wings, she propelled herself into the air, focusing on the Pole where she suspected North might keep track of spirits and Guardians, and went there, raining ashes and sparks down on the green fields.


	49. Chapter 49

Oh hi everyone.

If you do one thing today, listen to N*Synch - Tell Me Why. Say hello to your childhood ^_^

So here I'm going to say a massive thanks to my new proofer roudyredd, because she went through this chapter for me and fixed all of my 4am ramblings. I read through my original copy after she'd gone through and I'd even made words up where I'd started to fall asleep and my hand slipped and I looked at it and though 'yeah, looks alright.'

I kind of realise how much I need to pay attention and write at a decent hour :D

I also wanna say thanks to everyone who's been reading, reviewing, favouriting and following this fic. You're all awesome, and the countless times I've sat here staring at my screen thinking 'I want to quit' have been squashed by how many times I've glanced at my phone when I have an email to tell me I have a review, or a follow, or fave. You've all managed to keep spurring me on, so you all have my thanks.

As always, enjoy!

* * *

Coming back here, when she knew it would be empty, save the elves and yeti was – in Eleanor's eyes – a good idea. She wouldn't be asked about her motives for snooping about, nor would she be distracted by anything. Skirting down the halls, she dodged around the corners, making her way to the elaborate filing system she knew North had, but had never seen before. She had to go down three flights of stairs, and the further down in the building she went, the colder and more foreboding it felt. She knew this was wrong, but she had to find out.

As the jogged down the last corridor to where she knew it would be, she met two very large, very heavy oak doors. They looked worn and battered with time, and the handles were two large, thick steel rings. She grabbed hold of one and pulled the ring. Holding it ninety degrees to the door, she turned it, grumbling at how it stuck and how she had to shove much harder. There was a loud creak as the door gave way, and she pressed her weight against it to open it fully. She tread softly, unsure if there were any traps... but if it hadn't been locked, there wouldn't be any reason for there to be any traps. And she could get out of there quickly if she had to. What she saw made her jaw drop, and then a smile lit up her face. The room was huge. Enormous. There were thousands upon thousands of shelves lining the walls; filing cabinets in neat rows running the length of the room, with just enough room between each one for North to sidle down and open drawers to look in and sort things. She went to the nearest and opened the drawer, picking the folder nearest the front and reading the information there was written there in neat cursive.

'_Zach Moreau, 2005, France, Paris, Naughty, believes._'

There was a list of all his offences; stealing his sisters toys, expelled from school, hitting his parents. The boy was only eight, but he seemed to be a little trouble maker. There was a small picture of him clipped to the papers and he looked as though butter wouldn't melt. Bright blue eyes and a mess of blond hair. He looked bonnie, but you couldn't judge a book by it's cover, and there seemed to be a miniature horror story beneath that cute face.

Sliding the folder back exactly where she found it, the Summer spirit walked slowly down one of the isles. She'd started at M, apparently, and she was only half way down the long isle when she finally reach N. Stopping, she pulled out a drawer in one of the cabinets and picked the fifth folder.

'_Emily Nair, 1998, Australia, Sydney, Nice, believes_.'

Fifteen, the girl volunteered, worked hard at school and stepped up to the plate to act as her younger brothers' mother when their own died. That, unfortunately, seemed to be when she stopped believing. Where it said 'believes', there was a neat line in red ink. It saddened Eleanor. To think that such a nice young girl had been forced to grow up so quickly, and under such terrible circumstances. In her eyes, growing up never meant she'd had to stop believing, but perhaps for others they couldn't hold onto such beliefs and ideals. And not everybody else had the same proof before them as she always had.

She replaced that folder, and turned back down the isle, walking slowly, wondering where in the midst of these millions of folders she might find the ones devoted to the Guardians and the spirits.

It took her twenty minutes, but along the left wall, right in the centre, was a small glass door. It was dark within the room, but she went in anyway and smiled. She'd found exactly what she was looking for, and she went in. She spotted a candle on a candlestick on the desk just within the room, and she lit it with her fingertips, a feeling of excitement and trepidation build within her. There were a great many shelves within this room too, and each different section on a shelf was separated with a thick bookend. Glancing at the walls she saw that there were different categories... firstly, they were separated into continents, then into countries... She looked at Asia first, glancing over the Russia section, her fingers skimming over the folder that had 'Nicholas St. North' written across the tab, before she continued looking through.

Ombric... Nightlight... there were so many she'd never heard of! In Japan there were loads of spirits she didn't know and many she didn't feel she wanted to know. Eleanor pulled out one folder that read Yuki-onna, and opened it up. There was a picture of the most beautiful woman the spirit believed she'd ever seen, with the palest white skin and the darkest hair and eyes. Written beside the photo was a short paragraph, and it made her feel sick. There was not much about her, but from the short written text it appeared the beautiful woman would lead men astray and left them stranded in the snow, where it was certain they would perish. She would breath on them, freezing them and killing them. The woman was a murderer... Eleanor hastily replaced the folder on the shelf and moved on, looking at another shelf.

Europe.

She saw Tommy on the shelf, smiling as skipped past it, not wanting to intrude on someone's life as she already knew them. She was only interested really in those she didn't know and had no desire to meet, like the Yuki-onna woman.

Browsing through, she stopped, her heart leaping into her throat as one name in particular stood out from the rest.

Eleanor Rhodes.

It had been so long since she'd seen her surname. She'd not used it in nearly a century she thought with a gulp, realising how long it had been since her death. She didn't want to touch that folder, didn't want to read about herself, scared what North might have written. But then curiosity got the better of her, and she snatched at the folder, laying it on the table and flipping it open, gaping at the picture there.

It was her when she was about eleven. Her hair had reached her shoulders, she had a darker complexion (which was strange, because she spent so much more time in the sun now) and she was wearing a woollen jumper and a pleated skirt that brushed against her knees. Smiling slightly, she brushed her fingers over the image of her younger self, taking in each and every freckle she'd grown out of, the pimples on her chin that always made her blush, the bags under her eyes that were tell-tale of late nights talking to Aster. She looked at the top of the sheet.

'_Eleanor Rhodes, 1899-1916, England, London, Nice, believes._'

There was no red line over her believe status, something she took pride in, and the fact that she was on the nice list made her feel giddier than she had in years. She scanned over the page, grinning as she read over some of the nicer things she'd done that had gotten her on the nice list.

'_Frequently supports family in financial matters. Acts as carer to younger sister and niece, during raids, bombings and fights. Assumed status within household to encourage belief – Easter Sunday 1916._

_Saved sister from house fire, died in said house fire._'

Gulping slightly, Eleanor wondered if she wanted to carry on, but there was more on the sheet, and she blushed red to see a short list of things she'd done in her lifetime that had earned her naughty points. That list was considerably shorter than the nice list, but there were things there that she had done that when she read over them she felt guilty.

'_Fighting with siblings over trivialities, use of 'I hate you'_.'

They were just simple fights she'd had with George and Mary, but she bit her lip and flushed red as she remembered that one night she'd fled the house screaming at George that she'd hated him, and he'd come running after her with their dad. That was a lot worse than the fights, she accepted that.

'_Assaulting Martin Dingle with wine bottle._"

In all fairness that had been a last ditch attempt to get away from him, and she had apologised for that she thought with a huff, thumbing down the page.

'_Destroying Easter eggs in the Warren._"

She was stunned. Did North really know everything that went on, because she had the feeling Aster wouldn't have told North she'd kicked a basket of eggs over in her fury, so he must have some way of knowing things.

"I bet he knows I'm here right now," she muttered, putting her file down to the side with every intention of moving on and looking for Old Man Winter's file – but she knew there was still a lot more about her in that folder, so with a low moan she opened it again, and looked closer.

The next few sheets were her letters to him throughout her childhood. She'd stopped writing a Christmas list when she was eleven, because in her eyes she had seen more than enough to believe, and there were more children world over that could do with that extra gift during the Winter holidays. Then there was a note she'd written when she was fifteen and the war had broken out, and George had gone abroad. She'd written to North asking him to spread cheer abroad, to make the soldiers happy.

That was the year that on Christmas Day, on the front line in France, both English and German soldiers got out of the trenches and celebrated the holiday. From what she was told, they'd played football and sung carols in their native languages, taught the others their's and gotten the words mixed up. They'd sat and talked about their families and drank and shared what little they had for their Christmas dinner.

She'd asked North not to get her a present that year, but to spread joy to those fighting, who had little to be joyful about. She'd not known he'd done that until months after when those soldiers brought the story home, and she'd cried with happiness when she'd heard it.

Smiling slightly, Eleanor leafed through the papers, before she looked at her spirit sheet.

'_Eleanor, 1927_

_Charge: Summer_

_Residence: The Warren_

_Alternate forms: Phoenix_'

It listed basic details about her. How she'd come into existence ten years after dying in the fire, how she took charge of Summer and what her basic duties were. It was all simple stuff that basically let North know what she usually got up to so he could spot her if she did something completely out of the ordinary. Smiling slightly she closed the folder and put it back on the shelf, returning to search each of the continent shelves to see if she could find the tag 'Old Man Winter'.

But he was nowhere to be seen. Then, she turned slowly and looked at an eighth shelf. One not labelled with a continent, no names of cities. She approached slowly and looked at the three folders that were there.

Pitch Black. Man in the Moon. Old Man Winter.

They were the three that were not of Earth, she assumed. Slowly she pried the folder off the shelf that was emblazoned with the Winter mans' name, and held it in her hands. It was comparatively thinner than the others, and lighter too. When she opened it she was disappointed to find there wasn't a photograph, but a sketch, and very little information.

'_Old Man Winter, unknown_

_Charge: Winter, terminated_

_Residence: Unknown_

_Alternate forms: unknown_'

The description beneath the crudely drawn picture of Winter was one that made Eleanor bite her lip. This ancient being had caused ice ages, had blown blizzards over towns just to kill people and had taken it upon himself to weed out humanity. He would pick off the weak and elderly, leaving the younger and stronger folk left to run the land. Since he was forced out life expectancy doubled and the world had managed to progress.

Now he was back, would he try plunging the world back into ice again? What would happen if it were Winter all year round.

Then is clicked.

"That's what he's doing," she murmured, her eyes focusing to the candlelight, watching the flame is it flickered and spat. "Winter all year round..."

It was worse than what Pitch was after. There would be no more Spring, Summer and Autumn, that means Tommy, Aster and herself would no longer be needed. If the old man had control over the eternal season then Jack wouldn't be needed. Even North would be shunned out because people wouldn't look forward to Christmas if Winter was year round. Christmas would only make up one day of it. She didn't know what Tooth would do, but if people stopped believing in the majority of the Guardians then they would eventually stop believing in her.

They would all fade away. She'd lose those closest to her. Her friends, her family... the love of her life. They would all fade away. And would she be left? Because she'd been there nearly a century and she'd never been seen or heard and she'd never had anyone believe in her, but she still existed.

"Will I be left alone?" she whispered, clenching her fists and crumpling the paper in her hands, tears springing to her eyes.

"Oh no," a voice croaked from behind her, octaves deeper than anything she'd heard before, as if the sound was something old as the Earth. The sound was an echo of that age.

Turning quickly, Eleanor looked into those steely grey eyes, felt the cold radiating from him, and her heart stopped in her chest, her lungs stopped taking in air, and the world around her swam. She felt like she was falling into some abyss; like she had no control.

Cold fingers grasped her throat, and suddenly her heart leapt back into action again, her lungs sucked in a breath of air before those freezing fingers tightened around her neck.

"I'll destroy you with the rest of them."


	50. Chapter 50

We have 50 chapters now guys! Achievement! And 271 reviews! You guys are all champion, you really are!

Who ACTUALLY thought this would go on for so long? Seriously? I wanted to quite thirty one chapters ago!

So here's the bumming thing. I only have 2 chapters left in the bank, which means I'm gonna be writing like hell for a couple days. Might still be able to post some chapters, but I really want to focus on making sure I have enough for when I have really bad writers block. I don't wanna leave you all hanging for too long.

Also, if you haven't already, I'd very much appreciate it if you could have a peak at my other one shot **'The Pills Don't Bring Sweet** Dreams' :) I quite like it, hastily written as it is xD

Thanks all, g'night!

* * *

It felt like her body was freezing; like the blood that usually ran like fire in her veins was turning to ice, and her heart that had started to thunder away was slowing down. She'd not felt death before, not properly. When she'd died in that building it had been fast, fluid, had taken seconds and she couldn't for the life of her remember the crushing weight of the building falling upon her. She remembered the heat and the flicker of pain she felt, but that was nothing compared to this. The heat, she could deal with. Fire lived within her.

But this was ice. This was wrong. This was killing her.

Sucking the fire – her life – from her. She felt limp in his hands, she felt weak. Then some common sense snook its way back into her mind, and she told herself she was giving up too easily. Suddenly she twisted which loosening his grip around her jugular with the surprise she caused, and she had chance to swipe her arm out to grab her staff before she swung it around. The wood connected with the old man's head, and she pushed as much energy as she could through it. She heard him cry out in anger and pain as he dropped her.

Without waiting she struck out again, driving the spirit back into the larger room. She knocked him into a cabinet before she slipped past him and ran down the hall. Her feet carried her faster and faster past the cabinets before she turned the corner and headed for the doors, diving through them and hurrying up the hall.

She knew he was behind her, and she knew she wouldn't escape in time. With a surge of energy that warmed her again she focused not on turning into her phoenix form, but on getting away. She didn't normally transport away in her human form, but she didn't have time to wait.

"Aster," she whispered, running harder.

She needed to go to Aster, and fire licked around her ankles and up her legs, and suddenly she wasn't in the dark halls of the Pole, but in a bright wooded area.

Her legs gave out from under her, and she sank to the grass. Letting her fingers twist into the sweet green blades as she breathed in fresh air. She could feel her eyes stinging and she choked out a sob, and those tears leaked from her golden orbs and streamed down her face. She lay there for what felt like hours, but it was only seconds. When a hand gripped her shoulder she sprang up, screaming, batting the hand away and whirling around while swinging her staff out. But whoever it was caught hold of it, and shoved her back to the ground.

"Eleanor!" they cried, and she recognised the Russian accent. Gasping slightly as she pushed herself up again and threw herself into North's arms. "What has happened? Where have you been?"

"There's a problem," she whispered, her voice strained. She let go of North and pushed herself back. She would have carried on but the older Guardian seemed more concerned about something else.

"What happened to your neck?" he asked, and then Tooth was there looking horrified, and she reached out gingerly with her fingers, brushing them against the Summer spirits neck. Eleanor shook her head, looking at the two and preparing herself to explain the fact that she'd broken into the Pole to snoop at private files, only to be attacked by some ancient and evil spirit. But two people were missing.

"Where's Aster? And Jack?"

"Bunny is over there," Tooth said quietly, pointing to a bush, and beyond that Eleanor could see children on an Easter egg hunt, but something was wrong.

"We don't know where Jack is..." she finished, trailing off with a note of worry in her voice.

"Oh God, what happened?"

"He was taking Sophie home, but we haven't seen him since," Tooth started, but stopped when the Summer spirit gave her an appalled look.

"You sent him on his own!? Pitch could have got hold of him!" she cried, but in all honesty she felt more concerned about Aster than Jack.

There was no laughter from the children just beyond the bushes. They were slowly walking away.

"What happened?" she asked, her eyes widening.

"The nightmares came and destroyed everything... there's no Easter," Tooth whispered, and before anything else could be said or done Eleanor lurched forward to go to Aster, but he'd run from the bushes to the children, and she stopped just as she got into the clearing, her heart breaking for her Pooka as he tried to explain himself to the children.

"These aren't my best looking googies, but they'll do in a pinch," he laughed, holding out an egg to the little boy who stood before him, and a small brunette girl jumped down from a picnic table.

"I can't believe it," she said, but Eleanor heard the sadness in her voice, and she started forward, knowing what was coming.

"I-I know," Aster said, with a nervous laugh.

"There's no such thing as the Easter Bunny."

Eleanor froze, just as Aster froze. It wasn't a sympathetic or even empathetic feeling. She could feel his pain. She literally felt his heart breaking. She'd never felt something so raw and brutal, but she felt it then.

"What? No, wrong, not true, I'm right in front of you mate!" he cried, but in that second another smaller boy walked through him, and Eleanor recognised the look of someone who felt as if they'd been plunged into ice, and those bright green eyes filled with disbelief, shock and sadness.

Eleanor rushed forward and flung her arms around her mate, holding him close as he curled into himself, clutching his eggs close to him.

"They don't see me... they don't see me," he murmured. Eleanor held him close, rocking him gently and stroking his ears. She knew it would have no effect on him though, because she could feel how immense his pain was, and she began to understand what being marked meant, even after so long of actually being his.

The two were connected on a deeper level. They always had been, in a way, and she had always been able to read his emotions. But as this was so potent, so tangible, she could feel it too. At a loss as to what to do, she buried her face into his shoulder, pressing herself into his fur while he nuzzled his nose into her neck, one of his hands gripped her arm and he held her there.

And they were both suddenly aware that Jack was there, North was talking to him, and Tooth looked appalled. Eleanor looked up and saw a small golden box in his hands, and her stomach plummeted.

"You were with Pitch?" the Russian cried, and Eleanor knelt there in the grass, staring in shock. Aster shifted himself, standing and walking over to the others, his shoulders squared.

"No, listen, listen. I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen..." Jack tried to explain, and she watched as Aster clenched his fists.

"He has to go."

"Aster," she whispered, standing up and moving to go forward, but she felt his anger burst from him, and she halted and bit her tongue.

"We should never have trust you!" the bunny shouted, raising a fist. Eleanor leapt up, reaching out, as if trying to stop him, while Jack staggered away in fright.

Aster managed to hold himself back. "Easter is... new beginnings, new life..." he explained, his voice breaking. "Easter's about hope... and now it's gone."

The Pooka shot one last look at Jack, before turning back to Eleanor. He shook his head in dismay, crouching again, holding one of the little eggs close to him, his ears flat on his back. The Summer spirit watched as Jack looked helplessly to North and Tooth, but both the Guardians turned away from him. Jack threw something small down to the floor, and turned to look at her, clutching the golden box close to him, his eyes filled with tears and he went to jog past her, but she grabbed him.

"What happened?" she choked.

"Leave him,"Aster shot, and she looked briefly back to her mate, whose emerald eyes were narrowed and dangerous, his misery burning into anger again, and she looked quickly to Jack, watching as the boy shook his head, wrenched his arm clear of her grasp and took to the air.

"Jack!" she cried, going to take after him, but she heard a shout behind her, and she stopped.

"Leave him!"

She glanced at Aster, who'd stood again and was glaring angrily at her, so she stared back, astounded at his anger – though she understood it – and upset that he was being so hostile with her.

"Aster, we don't know what happened, he could have-"

"He was with Pitch!" the bunny yelled, starting forward to her, and she noticed how North and Tooth started forward too, but they seemed more intent on keeping Aster back. "He went to do something with that bastard, and now- now there's no Easter!"

"We'll fix it," she whispered, stepping up to him and reaching for his hand, but he batted her away, still furious.

"There's no more Easter, Eleanor! It's over, done with. There's no hope now, because of him!" he shouted, gesturing to where Jack had flown off.

"It's because of Pitch, not Jack!" she cried, "and we will fix it, we'll stop Pitch."

"And where were you?" he asked, turning to her and regarding her wearily, his fingers shooting out and touching her neck, where a mark must have been left where Old Man Winter had a choking hold on her. "Were you with them too?"

"No, I would never-" she started, but Aster approached and pressed his nose into her hair, breathing deeply and gagging. She watching him turn away, a disgusted expression on his face.

"You smell like ice, and frost," he choked, and she realised what he was implying, and she shook her head at him, horrified.

"I wasn't with them, I was at the Pole, I was looking at the files and then he turned up," she cried, her words a garbled rush.

"Frost turned up?!" he cried, glowering at her, the anger of what he thought she had done with Jack apparent on his expression and in the betrayal in his voice.

"No, Winter! Old Man Winter turned up! He's the change Pitch told me about years ago, remember? He did this to me, but I got away and I came here!"

"Old... Old Man Winter?" the Pooka asked, looking shocked, his voice suddenly quiet again.

"Yes but... but we can focus on that later. Aster right now we need to focus on Pitch, and this! We need to focus on making more kids believe again, and then we can get everything and everyone back on track. And when we've fixed everything we'll double efforts next Easter and get your belief back!"

"You don't understand," the Pooka cried. "I failed, I didn't managed to bring Easter... now I'm invisible to everyone! Now nobody can see me!"

"It's not the end of the world!"

"You don't understand flower, nobody cares about you if they don't see you. It's like you're worthless, it's like-"

But he stopped, his eyes opening wide as he realised what he just said, and he looked back to Eleanor to see her staring at him, her lips parted with words on her tongue that she could not speak, eyes brimming with tears.

"No, no I didn't mean that, sunflower, I didn't mean-"

"Worthless?" she whispered, and each of the Guardians flinched, the word seemed dull, but it cut deep. "That's what you think?"

"No, no-" he tried to backtrack, but she shook her head at him, backing away from him.

"You really think that if people don't see you, you're worthless?" she asked, crying now, her heart breaking for herself. "Is that why you've always hated Jack? Because people don't see him? He's not worth anything to you?"

Aster seemed at a loss, shaking his head weakly.

"And what about me?" she whispered, looking down at the ground, and she heard him approach then, touch her cheek and tilt her head upwards. "Nobody sees me. You think I'm worthless?"

"No, never," he pressed, but she shoved him away as he tried to pull her into a hug, and she balled her hands into fists, glaring at him.

"I was right! When I was alive I was right! I always believed in you Aster! But you have never, _never_ believed in me!"

"Eleanor, wait a second, please-" he shouted over her, but she whirled around to look at him. Such contempt burned in her eyes that he staggered back, the look she was dealt him worse than any blow he'd ever taken in his life.

"Don't bother," she spat, clutching her staff close to her, wiping the tears from her cheeks furiously, only for them to be replaced by others. "Leave me alone."

The girl turned on her heel and ran, bursting into flame before each of the Guardians and disappearing.


	51. Chapter 51

So guys, I got 12 reviews for the last chapter! I'm actually loving that!

And this morning, I wrote the final chapter for this fic. Something for me to get to. Or at least it is one of many endings I have planned, and it is perhaps the one that will make you all actually physically loathe me.

So... I'll work on others, and I'll rate them all, and I'll probably make you all hate me no matter what I do.

But it'll be okay.

Sorry for making you all emote last chapter too, this one is marginally better.

And I won't be posting again for... at least a week, because I'm travelling up country. I live in Manchester you see, and I'm off to Carlisle! :D

Anyways, have fun, enjoy!

* * *

"Bastard!" she screamed, storming through the woods where she'd first met Aster, pushing through the long grass. Eleanor found she was following a path that no longer existed, passing trees that were mere sprouts when she was a child, but were now tall and gnarled with age. She lashed out with her fists, hitting at trees and screaming profanities into the air.

"Bastard..." she moaned, pushing through to the clearing she'd found herself in years ago. In her minds' eye she could see her younger self, a bonnie little girl with long brown hair and big bright eyes tugging the collar of her dog to pull him away from something. She could see those green eyes staring at her, hear him talking... those very words she'd heard so long ago. So long she should have forgotten them...

'Y_ou go back home now._'

"I wish I had," she whispered to nobody, starting forward and brushing her fingers against the soft leaves of the bush her Pooka had hidden in with his injured leg. "I wish I had gone home... I wish I'd never met him..."

Tears streamed down her face as she pushed the thick branches of the bush back, crawling under the low canopy of leaves and curling up there. Her legs tucked up to her chest and she used her arms as a pillow, laying her head upon them with her staff held close to her. She couldn't cope with this. She couldn't cope with Pitch trying to destroy everything, and Jack betraying them all, and Aster implying that invisible spirits had no worth.

But she knew she was lying to herself when she said she wished she'd never met him, because there was no way on this Earth that she would have had it any other way. She would never have loved another so unconditionally as she had always loved Aster, trusting him with her heart, and him trusting her with his. How he had been so hesitant to ever love her because he couldn't fulfil her life as he wanted to; they could never have children, the home they'd built together was not conventional, even a marriage was a complex thing to consider, as bonding between two individuals was a different ceremony to both of them.

But it didn't matter now... it couldn't possibly matter since he immediately thought she'd gone and slept with Jack, and had been so quick to devalue her existence. She didn't know if she could forgive him...

But she had to try. She couldn't just give up on her heart like this. It would mean she'd wasted her life.

Grumbling, Eleanor pushed herself up into a sitting position, and touched her fingers gently to her neck. There was a cold patch there, and she reckoned she had ice burn, or something there... it would take a while to heal, but she knew she would. She was confident of it. She had to find Aster now, reconcile, help him as best she could... he had said something hurtful to her, but he was hurting too, and she shouldn't have reacted so harshly to him.

"Why am I a girl?" she asked herself, hitting her fist into her forehead. "Why do I have girl feelings? I hate ovaries."

Standing, she burst to flame where she was, and reappeared where she had been not half an hour before. The clearing was empty, and she looked about quietly, feeling her heart drop where she was stood as she tried to make sense of what had happened. They'd been here not long ago... why had they gone so fast?

Where had they gone to?

It was then she felt something nudge her foot, and she looked down quickly with a squeak to see one of the eggs sat upon her toes. It had a message painted over it, so she picked it up quickly, cradling it in her hands as she read over what the writing said, biting her lip.

'_Sunflower,_

_There's nothing I can say to make you forgive me. Nothing I can say to take back what I said._

_Every day since I met you I've believed in your light, power and love._

_I'm sorry, I really am._

_Love, Aster._'

"God... dammit," she breathed. He'd always been terrible at saying sorry, stubborn as he was, but he'd left that there in hopes she'd come back and she had, and with a small smile she held the egg close to her chest and considered where Aster might be now.

They'd probably gone back to the Pole, the Summer spirit realised, and though she was hesitant to go there after seeing Old Man Winter there, she felt she'd be safe with Aster being there. With a burst, she was gone from the wood, and she appeared by the fireplace, staring into the flames before she heard a cry from behind her.

"Eleanor!"

It was Tooth, and the girl only just managed to turn around before the fairy had thrown herself into the girls arms, holding her close.

"He never meant it! He's really sorry!" she cried out, and Eleanor was left stumped, her fingers brushing over the soft feathers on her back before she gripped the other woman's shoulders gently and pushed her away.

"Aster?" she asked the fairy, looking around, noticing how he was the only one missing now. "Where... where is he?"

Fear stabbed at her stomach as she remembered what she had been told only a day before. If people stop believing in the Guardians, then they disappear. They vanish.

"Hush, shh, he's just here," Tooth shushed her. But the fairy still looked nervous, and Eleanor wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Where?" she asked, looking about the room.

"Here," North muttered, pointing to a chair where a small grey pillow was. But when she approached she realised it wasn't a pillow. It was a tiny, grey bunny rabbit.

"Oh-oh," she choked, rushing to the chair but slowing down considerably when she realised she might scare the poor guy. He didn't move, he just sat there staring at her with his big green eyes, and slowly she slipped into the chair, picked the bunny up, holding him under his stomach and supporting his bottom, and she pulled him close to her chest.

"Aster, what happened?" she whispered, staring down at her mate, and the tiny thing stared back up, not making a sound. She turned to look at North, her expression astounded, and she asked him, "has he said anything since... since this happened?"

"No," the older man answered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Losing Easter took it's toll on him..."

"I can see that!" she cried, but started a little when the tiny rabbit in her arms flinched, and she stroked his ears, soothing him. "Oh, my poor Bunny..."

How could she be angry with him? Especially when he'd been weakened so much as this. Part of her thought he was just adorable, and wanted to hug and cuddle him with all the childish abandon a girl had when something even moderately cute appeared before them. But this bunny... this was the being she'd fallen in love with, this was her mate... the one who had captured her heart and had held her every night for the past ninety years, who'd shown her a love so amazing she'd oft times wondered if it could be real.

How could she stay mad at him when he was so helpless in her arms?

"I'm sorry I said all those things before," she whispered to him, tucking her knees up onto the chair, and holding Aster to her chest, feeling his heart beat rhythmically against her fingers. "I'm sorry I was angry... I should have realised you were hurt too, and I know you didn't mean it. I should have been there, even if you were a complete arse with me," she giggled, kissing him atop his fluffy little head.

He merely looked up at her, his nose twitching and she watched as he raised his front paws up and rested them against her chest, raising himself up on his hind legs to sniff at her face, nuzzle her hair as she dipped her head to press her face into his soft, downy fur.

"I love you," she whispered, holding him close to her. "And I will always believe in you. I always have."

"I love you too sunflower," she heard him whisper, and she almost jumped out of her skin, leaping up and almost dropping the now tiny Pooka, but she managed to hold on to him, mainly because he had his claws dug into her shoulder. "Crikey! Don't jump like that!" he cried, and she grabbed hold of him under his front legs, holding him at arms length to examine him.

"I didn't think you could talk!" she cried, and North burst out a short laugh, while Tooth smiled happily. "You scared me."

"I scared you?! You nearly gave me a bloody heart attack," Aster cried, and he wriggled in her hands until she stooped and put him gently on the floor.

"We need to find Jack," Eleanor said quickly, ignoring how Aster turned and looked appalled at her, something his cute new form didn't portray well, and he only looked adorably flustered at her. "I don't think he did anything bad with Pitch, I think we ought to give him another chance..."

"Well... we need to get to the sleigh then, while we have the powers," North said quickly, and he simply turned and strode from the room, Tooth on his heels, and Eleanor looked down at her partner, before picking him up again and holding him close to her chest again, kissing him on his nose. She followed North and Tooth, her fingers running absently through Aster's fur and he hummed slightly, enjoying the attention.

"I didn't mean it like I said it," he said suddenly, and though Eleanor knew what he was talking about and knew he was trying to say sorry, she didn't want him to.

"I know, it's okay," she said calmly, and though he seemed like he wanted to say something to her, he sighed a little and settled back in her arms, relaxing as she scratching his back. They reached the sleigh, and Eleanor sat in the back, while Aster his hid face in her arms, trembling slightly.

"Oh, struth, I hate this," he moaned, and Eleanor and Tooth chuckled, stroking his back. In seconds they were shooting off down the take-off ramp and the reindeer pulled them off into the air. Eleanor loved the ride, but she saw Tooth looking worried and called to her above the rushing wind.

"What's going on?"

"There's only one light left!" she cried, her eyes wide and panicked. "We need to go there, to make sure he doesn't stop believing too."

But as she was speaking, the last light on the globe was flickering, and Eleanor knew that belief was waning. North pulled out a snow globe and threw it ahead of the sleigh as it started rocking, and they were sucked through the portal to appear on a dark street. The rocking sleigh started descending rapidly, banging against lampposts and skidding along the roofs of cars before landing with a crash and grinding to a halt. Eleanor cried out and held Aster tight to stop him getting hurt, tumbling forward in the sleigh before she let go of him. He jumped down from her chest and landed beside her head, the soft pads of his paws resting on her cheek as he checked on her, his round green eyes expressing such worry for her.

"You okay sweetheart?" he asked quietly, and she nodded at him, pushing herself up and climbing out of the sleigh. The street was empty, and she turned again and jumped up onto the sleigh, looking as North staggered to his feet.

"Is official, my powers are kaput!"

Tooth was just barely holding North up, and she looked tiny under his colossal size. Eleanor turned again and looked to the house she remembered from the day before, hurrying towards the front door, only to see Jack jump from the bedroom window.

"Eleanor!" he cried, swooping down and hugging her, whirling her around.

"Jack, are you okay?" she asked, embracing him back and pressing her face into his neck, secretly glad for someone her own size to hug.

"I'm fine, I- is everyone okay?" he asked, and pulled her down towards the sleigh, letting go of her hand briefly when Tooth leapt from the sleigh and landed with a thump on the ground.

"Jack!" she cried happily, and he helped her up from the ground, and Eleanor smiled slightly at the adoring look she gave him, although Jack seemed completely oblivious to it himself.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and Tooth merely smoothed her feathers out and harrumphed, while North climbed from the sleigh and shot him a quizzical look, his bright blue eyes shining.

"What are you doing here?"

"Same as you," Jack replied, and each of them turned her way. She felt ice stab at her and saw the little boy from the other night run through her midriff and down towards the Guardians. He was so excited to see North, and then he turned to Jack, grinning.

"It's you, it really is you! I knew it wasn't a dream!" he cried, his big brown eyes shining.

"Jack, he sees you!" North remarked, surprised and elated.

"He can see you..." Eleanor echoed, and suddenly she felt ever so lonely, and the cold she felt from him running through her didn't ease off, instead she felt it wrap around her heart and she felt more alone than she had in years.

"But, wait, where's Bunny?" Jack asked, and Eleanor felt her heart leap into her throat and she approached slowly, standing beside the little boy and crouching so she was at his level, looking at him but it was as if she weren't there at all.

"Losing Easter took it's toll on all of us, Bunny most of all," North explained, and the group looked past North's hulking form to see Aster jump up onto the side of the sleigh, then down onto one of the wooden slats.

"Oh no..." Jack moaned, and Jamie approached to look at her Pooka more closely.

"How did you manage to get him to see you?" Eleanor asked her Winter friend quietly, and he tangled his fingers with hers, looking down into her big golden-brown eyes. He raised their hands, and from his index finger came a small snowflake, glittering, and it landed upon her nose. She felt like sneezing, but suddenly she was filled with such warmth again, every line of every object seemed sharper, all the colours seemed brighter. Everything seemed so much clearer and more realistic, and she looked at Jack and he was positively shining. "Why did you never do that when I was a kid?"

"I didn't know I could, but it worked on Jamie," he explained, before looking back to the little brunette boy.

"What happened to him? He used to be huge, and cool," Jamie started, and Aster looked miffed at the past tense. "Now he's... cute," the boy finished, scratching the bunny behind the ears, and he smiled and started thumping his foot, before swatting the boy away.

"Did you tell him to say that?" he asked, pointing accusingly to Jack. "That's right, lets go, me and you, come on!" Aster jumped down from the sleigh and kicked at Jack's legs, not really doing much, but Eleanor dropped to her knees and hushed him anyway. He shot her a reproachful look, and glared again at Jack, but Jamie stepped in this time.

"No! Well, actually he told me you were real... just when I started to think that maybe... you weren't."

Eleanor didn't have to wait a second before she'd engulfed Jack in a very tight hug, and she rubbed her back gently, grinning, and Aster felt the same gratitude as she did. If it weren't for this one child believing, he would most likely have vanished forever. He would be gone, and Eleanor would be left without her best friend, mate and love of her life.

Suddenly, there was a crack of thunder that resounded through the town, and every head looked up to see Pitch stood on a black sand cloud above them, glaring down. It seemed it had all started...


	52. Chapter 52

I'm not posting for a little while, I'm not feeling too good.

I've revised this chapter too, so I think some of the spelling/grammar/structural mistakes have been corrected.

Cheers.

* * *

The echo of thunder rolled about the town, and Eleanor felt Aster brush against her leg gently, so she looked down at him. Weary golden-brown eyes met worried green ones, and she shrugged at him while trying to smile as if nothing was wrong. It felt like a grimace and the girl knew he wasn't convinced.

"Get Jamie out of here," Jack told them all before shooting off into the air. Eleanor watched him go, but she didn't feel easy about it and looked down to Aster again, and over to North and Tooth who were ushering Jamie away.

"Be careful Jack!" North called, steering Jamie by the shoulder and helping himself along using his sword as a crutch. Still Eleanor did not move, and she could feel Aster tugging at her skirt.

"Come on flower, quick," he urged, but she shook her head and scooping him up and then pushing herself forward to catch up to the others before dumping Aster in Tooth's arms.

"I can't leave him to do that alone," she told the fairy, turning back quickly and ignoring the urgent cries behind her shouting her back. Flames shot out around her and she soared up into the air as a phoenix, gaining speed rapidly as she went, catching up on Jack very quickly. Pitch watched them coming and spread his arms, the sand surrounding him as he dove down to them, with an eerie sort of grace.

"Let's end this shall we?" Pitch cried, and Eleanor pushed herself on faster towards him. She flew past Jack but wheeled through the air out of shot of Pitch as he picked up speed, rocketing towards her Wintery friend. She watched as Jack shot shards of ice towards Pitch, the air cracking around them, light glowing between them. It was like lightening, but Pitch easily deflected it.

"That little trick doesn't work on me any more!" he yelled, golden eyes narrowing dangerously before he shot a ball of dark sand to the boy which broke through the ice and collided with his chest, sending him falling from the sky. Eleanor took that opportunity to dive for Pitch while he was distracted, while he'd temporarily forgotten about her. She could see nightmares turning to face her, charging her way, and the second before she collided with Pitch he turned to face her, extending his hand, wrapping it around her neck. Eleanor jerked to a halt, gasping, and suddenly she felt her limbs extending again, her fingers rushed up and wrapped around his, pulling at them as they tightened around her throat, mirroring what Old Man Winter had done not long ago.

"I see you've felt the changes," he whispered to her, watching her writhe in his hands. He let go of her throat and quickly grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her close. "I knew you would get involved in all of this, but I really wish you hadn't."

"Why?" she spat, shoving her hands against the elder man's chest to try and get away from him, but his grip was pincer like, and she couldn't get out of his hold.

"Because I don't like hurting you," he whispered, his voice soft and gentle, and it made Eleanor stop in her attempts to escape. His golden eyes met hers but before she could try to read the complex mix of emotions there, he'd flung her backwards, and where she'd felt the sand swirling beneath her toes only moments before, - firm and solid, - she now felt nothing. In her shock she simply fell through the air, the wind screaming in her ears, her own lips parted but she was completely silent. Staring quietly, she watched as Pitch spread the cloud of sand over the whole of the town, but he himself vanished.

Eleanor arched her body while she could and glanced below to see the ground coming rapidly closer. She gulped before letting her arms spread wide, her body changing again, and just as she was about to hit the ground she swooped upwards again with her wings extended and her voice trilling as she cried out in joy at not hurting herself again. She was so close to the others, she could feel it, and she literally turned a corner to see North, Tooth and Jack stood around Jamie - protecting him - while Aster was a little ways from them shouting threats to Pitch. She had to give it to him, no matter what, he wouldn't stop being tough. Morphing again, she landed before Aster just as the shadows extended to him, and while he ran to North, she rushed to Jack, seeing if he was okay too. The whinny of a horse made her turn around and she saw the nightmare stallions approaching.

"I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see you all like this," Pitch said, approaching upon one of the stallions. "You look awful."

Eleanor raised her staff and glared at the Nightmare King, and he merely smirked back at her, glancing around the weakened Guardians before fixating on the boy in the midst of them. As the shadows stretched out before them, slipping beneath their feet, Eleanor turned and looked at the boy who was the last thing tethering the Guardians there. The last believer in everything good and pure in the world. If he stopped believing, well – Eleanor looked to Aster, and his green eyes flickered up and met hers – he would be no more. None of them would exist. She knew she needed to protect this child, and as she came to realise this, an image flickered before her eyes. A girl with long brown hair and brown eyes, cowering in the corner of a burning building.

"_Trust me Mary," she whispered into the childs' ear, lifting her onto the window ledge, holding her facing her and kissing her on the nose. "Do you trust me?"_

"_Yes," she whimpered, shaking like a leaf. "Yes, I trust you."_

Jamie in that second reminded her so much of her sister, and she smiled slightly before turning back to Pitch, setting herself firmly before them all, beside Jack as he crouched down to talk to Jamie.

"I'm scared Jack," the child whimpered.

"It's okay, we're going to have a little fun instead," Jack whispered, and there seemed to be a note of realisation in his voice too. "That's it, that's my centre!" he gasped, though it seemed he'd made this discovery for himself rather than for the rest of them. Eleanor kept her gaze on Pitch, who was approaching on his stallion.

"So what do you think Jamie, do you believe in the Boogeyma- ugh!"

A snowball hit Pitch square in the face, and in her temporary shock Eleanor forgot to keep her eyes trained on the Nightmare King and instead looked around to Jack who was grinning, and holding another snowball ready to fire. He looked down at Jamie, smiling at him.

"Now let's go get your friends," he suggested, grabbing hold of the lid of a trash can and a discarded wok big enough to cook for dozens, probably from a restaurant. He handed the lid to Tooth, the wok to Eleanor and shoved a palette towards North. Jamie watched in mild surprise as the wok, to him, floated in mid air. Lastly he shoved an old sleigh towards the little boy, and before Pitch could recover from his attack he'd shot a path of ice past him, forcing the nightmares to jump out of the way, and Eleanor took the lead first, grabbing Aster and dropping him in the wok before jumping in after him, crossing her legs tightly and holding onto the sides of the dish as they hurtled down the hill.

She could see North and Tooth following them, and she grinned as they went down the wild slide Jack had made for them.

She had to admire how agile Jack was, diving, skidding and skating down the street, only ever staying meters in front of them, but always being fast enough to keep the slide going. She felt exhilarated, and for the first time in a long time she really appreciated the cold and the ice, his methods so much nicer than anything she suspected Old Man Winter was capable of.

Suddenly Jack doubled back, grabbing Jamie by the scruff of his collar and hoisting him into the air. He sped off without a word, simply laughing and continuing to lay the trail down for them to follow. Aster was sat on Eleanor's knee, his front paws resting on the rim of the giant wok, and though he seemed very tense he was laughing anyway. For a second she wondered if he'd be stuck like this forever, or if – on the very worst note – losing Easter would prove to be too much for him to cope with, and he would just vanish. His existence wiped from the face of the Earth.

Then suddenly she was snapping to her senses again, aware that more children were following and this had been Jack's plan all along – to get more believers, to make them stronger. She looked behind and smiled at them, ignoring the fact that they couldn't see her, and simply by looking at their smiling faces she felt a tingle of hope in her stomach.

Quite abruptly though, they were grinding to a halt, and as she looked up she saw what could only be described as a tidal wave of black sand rising up on the outskirts of the town. Jack was the only one stood up facing what was coming, so Eleanor jumped up to stand next to him, gulping slightly as she took into account how grossly outnumbered they seemed to be. Soon North, Tooth and Aster had stood around them too, and the children were milling around behind them. The smallest boy, the blond one she'd heard Jamie call Monty ran forward cheering, spied the wall of sand and Pitch atop one of the buildings and quickly his cheer melted into a cry of horror. While Tooth held her arms out to the boy, Eleanor couldn't help but smile a little. It was cute the way children were.

"You think a few children can help you? Against this?" Pitch cried, gesturing to the wall of black sand that had formed a solid ring around the town. North raised his sword to Pitch, trying to look intimidating, but the older man seemed weakened by the lack of belief in him and his arm dropped again.

"They're just bad dreams Jamie," Jack said gently to the boy stood behind them., Eleanor nodded slightly, looking down to her bunny as he spoke up.

"Yeah, we'll protect you mate."

She could hear Pitch laughing on the rooftop, cynical of Aster's abilities. Eleanor herself wasn't entirely convinced of the Pooka's ability to help protect the children, but anything was better than nothing, and she'd be the last person to put Aster down now.

"You'll protect them?" Pitch cried, laughing cruelly. "But who'll protect you?"

There was a moment of silence, the Guardians sharing uneasy glances, and Eleanor looked about, flustered.

"We could just go and hit him?" she suggested sheepishly, and Jack smiled at her half heartedly. Jamie walked forward slightly, looking up to the Nightmare King with his shoulders squared.

"I will," he said clearly, looking up at Pitch. Soon his friends followed, and Eleanor felt touched at their bravery. Jack shared a determined look with Jamie, Eleanor placed herself behind the girl with the bobby hat on, and she braced herself for an attack.

"Still think there's no such thing as the Boogeyman?" Pitch asked, leering down at them, and Eleanor clenched her jaw. In one fell swoop the wall of black sand surged forward, popping street lamps. Eleanor reached forward instinctively and laid her hand on the taller girls' shoulder, waiting to pull her out of harms way since she was the closest, and she shot a look to Jack. The Winter spirit did nothing, holding his ground and raising his staff up. When Jamie spoke, she whipped her head back around. It seemed like too much was going on at once, what with the oncoming threat and the children they'd so foolishly put in harms' way...

"I do believe in you," Jamie called, looking up at Pitch with a fierce defiance in his eyes. "I'm just not afraid if you."

The sand rose up before them, forming one point as it reached the peak of it's arch, then it plummeted down towards them. The Summer spirit heard Jack's sharp intake of breath, and with a small shriek she lurched forward and grabbed the girl, spinning her around so Eleanor herself would take the brunt of the attack. But glancing over her shoulder, she saw Jamie reach out, as if he knew something they didn't, and the second the black sand touched his fingers gold ribbons shot out in all directions. The sand brightened, sparkled and shone gold.

Then she became aware of a small hand closing around her wrist, and she looked down sharply to see the girl beaming up at her, and her heart stopped in her chest. The world around her slowed, and for a second she didn't care about anything or anyone else but this child. This little girl smiling up at her with such exuberance in her eyes that Eleanor wanted to shout out and laugh, but she couldn't. She just couldn't find herself able to do anything. Then the girls' eyes flickered away from her face, but her grip on Eleanor's wrist tightened and she pulled her sharply just as a stallion reared up at them.

Everything sped up again, and she saw everything in normal speed. The ribbons and streams of gold sand were twisting beautifully through the air, tangling around the nightmare that threatened them, and Eleanor pulled the child back as she looked up. Pitch was still atop the roof, glaring down, and she realised she had to go up there and do something before he started to gain the upper hand again.

"I'll be right back," she said quietly to the child, slipping her wrist out of the small fingers as she set off in a jog down the street. She ignored the shouts behind her, and she burst up into the air, propelling herself up towards Pitch. She knew it was a risky move, she knew he could easily become hostile towards her but she was more than capable of holding her own against him, and before the nightmares could get to her she could retreat. The girl landed on the rooftop before him, changing back into her human form and she stayed crouched, low to the ground.

"Are we defecting?" he asked quietly, and Eleanor noticed a flicker of hope in his eyes. When she shook her head he narrowed his eyes at her, snarling slightly, but she did nothing to antagonise him, merely stayed where she was.

"Are you really doing this Pitch? You're better than this," she murmured, keeping her eyes trained on his.

"I will be believed in," he cried, flinging something her way, and she rolled sideways to avoid what was a sharp dart, similar to the one that had killed Sandy.

"You are believed in!" Eleanor shouted above the raucous, swinging her staff at an oncoming nightmare, turning it into glass and sending it shattering. "Didn't you hear him?"

"It's not good enough! I want what they have, I want to be believed in worldwide! I want a world where my name is known!"

"And so do I!" Eleanor screamed, and Pitch stopped for a second, staring at her in shock. "But I would never, ever do something like this. Give them a reason to believe, don't force them."

"And how might you suggest I do that?" he snapped, and Eleanor noticed the nightmares closing in on her slowly, and with a quick glance down to the street below she saw everybody was otherwise occupied.

"I... I don't know. But making them live a nightmare won't make them believe. Fear – this kind of fear – will not make them believe. It'll steal their childhood away and then you won't have dreams to taint any more... they'll be grown up and you will have lost."

"You don't understand," he snarled.

"How do I not? I lived in a war. I had to step up and work to support my family. I had to take care of my sister and niece... I had to grow up, but I always made sure I had something to hold onto because I didn't let fear rule my life. Fear is a thief. It steals your tomorrows by making you worry about your today's... you take their hopes away from them and soon they'll just be numb. They won't feel anything, not even fear."

Golden eyes fixed on golden eyes, and she saw the realisation flicker in his, the knowledge that he had already lost... and his defeat angered him. That helplessness that shone there for a second was replaced abruptly by anger, and Eleanor only just managed to dive out of the way to avoid a stream of darts shot at her, and she burst forth into the air to escape.

Then Jack was flying past her in the opposite direction, heading towards Pitch, and she circled back, choosing to dive down at a small group of nightmares to destroy them, rising high into the air on the other side trilling a song, celebrating.

She realised she was celebrating too soon when a nightmare clamped it's sharp jaws around her tail feathers, and she cried out as it dragged her back down to the rooftops. She changed back into her human form as they went, and she topped town with her dress caught in the stallions mouth. She saw Jack and Pitch fighting it out, and then an almighty cry made her head whip around so fast she could have given herself whiplash.

"Ho, ho, ho!"

But it wasn't North, and she beamed as Aster jumped up from a chimney pot, covered in soot, throwing his boomerangs into the fight and on their return they smashed through the stallion intent on ripping her skirt to pieces.

Another stallion darted by, Pitch riding it, and as it jumped to the next rooftop North came flying in the opposite direction. Eleanor was always surprised at how nimble he seemed, but had no time to admire the spry old guy as Pitch was now swinging a large pickaxe at him. North dodged the blow and blocked the next two with his swords, but he was left unarmed. Aster joined the fray, dodging one blow and throwing his boomerang at Pitch. Tooth zipped by and Pitch dodged her, and before he could attack again Jack had leapt forward and kicked him back, cornering him.

One second he was there, the next he was gone, melting into the shadows to hide himself. Eleanor felt her golden-brown eyes widening as Jack turned his back for a second, and then Pitch appeared from the shadows, smirking cruelly and raising his pick above his head, readying himself to bring it down upon Jack.

"Jack, look out!" she screamed out in unison with Aster, who flung his weapon at Pitch's head, only for it to be deflected.

And just as Pitch's arm moved to bring the final blow, something golden shot out from behind the Nightmare King, grabbed him by the wrists and hurled him through the air.


	53. Chapter 53

So I had a wobble the other day, and I think I'll give a bit of context to everything, if you want it or not.

Basically, I've suffered with various mental illnesses for a couple of years - started with severe depression at 15, and I'm 19 now and loads more has surfaced. I have anxiety disorder, I suffer with stress, I've had suicidal thoughts and I've acted upon many of them, and recently I've had a wee niggly voice in the back of my head telling me how worthless I am. I'm scared of going to the doctor though, because I really don't need another label slapped on me.

So the other night I went to a party, got very drunk off very cheap wine, and of course we all know alcohol is a depressant, so you can imagine how I felt. I came home, cried about family issues and personal issues and life issues, phoned a suicide line (Samaritans, and I talked to a lovely gent called Harry, and he was a brilliant man) and then I decided to post a final chapter to my story saying I was going away, and I had no intention of coming back.

I did try to end my life, but I failed, and I've kept it from my family, and I've had some sleep and sobered up and watched a few films... and now I feel a bit better, and I've decided to get back on my feet and keep going.

So that's it basically. I realise I may have worried a few people, and I realise how mean that was of me. I am sorry.

And HerHiddenSecret and Kagrulez are amazing for giving me a bit of hope in myself, and TenebrisSagittarius is awesome too for picking up on how I've not been right lately, and wishing me well again.

I promise you all I won't do anything like that again. I've managed to be strong and keep going so long, so I can keep on going.

Just thought I'd get that off my chest.

So, thanks if you read, and I hope you enjoy the story :)

* * *

Eleanor dove after Pitch, climbing atop the parked school buses and running along them, jumping down to the ground again and chasing after him, until she saw the golden sand swirling in one condensed area, a bright white light beaming from within.

Pitch was sprawled just before the sand and he was staring up. Although Eleanor couldn't see his face, she imagined he would be horrified. She didn't know what she was waiting for, didn't understand the significance of the sand or the light, but she felt her heart beating more rapidly, and she was holding her breath in anticipation.

And when she saw a figure forming inside, she burst out a small laugh, her lips spreading into a wide smile. Sandy was there, for some unknown reason he defied the laws of physics and he was there, looking proud and strong, and insanely intimidating.

He grabbed Pitch and pulled him close, staring him down before silently chastising him, and punching him so hard he flew twenty feet into the air, easily. Suddenly the children were near her, cheering, and Sandy conjured a bowler hat from mid air and tipped it to them all. The sand rope he'd had wrapped around Pitch drew tight, and he looked up briefly before tugging it down again, and Pitch came crashing to Earth, hitting the ground hard and falling unconscious.

Eleanor cried out a little, more in shock than anything else, and she eased her way around the groups of Guardians and the children to see if the man was dead or alive. He seemed to be alive, drool dripping form his mouth and tiny golden butterflies fluttered about his head.

"He's dreaming," she whispered, smiling in spite of herself and she bent down to poke at his forehead, listening as he grunted in his sleeping state, and she chuckled a little. She most certainly had fallen out with him; after hurting her, hurting her partner and her friends, and trying to plunge the world into one living nightmare, she wasn't going to be talking to him for a long, long time. But it didn't mean she wanted him seriously hurt, or even dead. She just wanted him to learn his lesson.

She looked up as she saw something golden rise into the air, and she realised it was Sandy. She froze, in amazement as he spread ribbons of golden sand about the small town, and conjured thousands of images that ran, swam and flew about them all. Dolphins chased minnows, sparrows flitted to and fro, and she gapes as a dinosaur thundered past them. She felt an arm slip around her waist and she turned quickly and looked up into big evergreen eyes, felt herself melt into his touch and she moaned a little bit as he stooped to kiss her, blushing profusely as she did, embarrassed.

"S-sorry," she muttered, averting her eyes, but Aster merely chuckled throatily and pulled her in for another kiss, holding her tight against him.

"Don't be love," he whispered to her when they eventually broke for air, "I've been meaning to do that for days, but we were a bit busy."

"Oh, I know," she said with a small smile, stroking her hands up his arms and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Personally I'm just glad you're this size again. You were adorable when you were tiny, but it would have felt weird kissing a tiny bunny."

"And it doesn't feel weird kissing a six foot tall one?" he laughed, pressing his nose to hers.

"Nope, it never has for some reason."

"Guys, do you want to get a room?" Jack asked as he walked past, watching the kids start a snowball fight with North.

"Maybe later, eh?" Aster whispered to her, and she merely flushed red and giggled, moving away from him and making her way over to the little girl who was smiling at her. She slowed down in front of her, and the pair shuffled awkwardly before Eleanor dropped to her knees and smiled.

"I'm Eleanor," she told the girl, extending her hand.

"Pippa," the girl answered, taking the spirits hand and shaking it.

"Pippa... you can see me," Eleanor remarked quietly, biting her lower lip. The girl just shrugged, looking about to her friends who were busy playing.

"Can't they?" she asked, turning back to face the older girl, watching as she shook her head. "Not even Jamie?"

"Not even Jamie... how can you see me?"

"I... I don't know... I felt you first, and then you pulled me out of the way of that sand thing and I could feel you more, and see you," she answered, shrugging, as if it were that simple. And in a sense it was, Eleanor just wasn't sure if it happened this way. She was glad that someone could see her, she was over the moon really, because she'd gone so long being overlooked. But it felt strange in a way, it was something she wasn't used to...

"Hey Pippa! Who are you talking to?" Jamie shouted, running over to them.

"Eleanor, can't you see her?" she asked, dropping her hand from the spirits' and placing it on her hip, her eyes sweeping over Jamie, scrutinising him.

"Who... who's Eleanor?" Jamie asked, looked vaguely at the spot Pippa gestured to, but he saw right through the girl.

"She's my best friend," Jack chipped in, walking over. "You might not see her right now, but you will."

The boy seemed to just accept that explanation, and seeing as he hadn't believed in or seen Jack mere hours before, the prospect of there being more beings out there he was yet blind to wasn't all that surprising. He just smiled up at the white haired teen and jogged off, Pippa close on his heels with a snowball already in her hand.

"We got our first believers tonight," Jack said quietly, and Eleanor grinned at him, flinging her arms around his neck. She didn't need to say anything, and he didn't need to say any more. They both knew how strange but exhilarating it felt; how they seemed just that little bit happier, a little bit more important, and a little bit more wanted.

It was a shout that broke them apart and the two looked over to see Pitch had woken up and was looking around with wide eyes, shaking his head at the streams of dream sand and the creatures that floated about through the air. He pointed a finger at them all accusingly, anger seeping into his expression.

"You dare have fun in my presence? I am the Boogeyman, and you will fear me!" he cried, starting forward as if to grab hold of Jamie. But instead the small brunette turned and ran through Pitch, eliciting a cry of shock, horror and sadness as the older man looked about, hurt etched into his eyes.

"No..." he murmured, turning to look at the Guardians first, pain apparent on his features, and then his eyes flickered over to meet Eleanor's, and she started towards him, intent on comforting him to some extent, but he turned on his heel and fled.

"Pitch!" she cried, going after him on a jog, while she heard the others running too, but they went a different way. She chased him down an embankment whilst trying her hardest not to slip on the frozen ground, but as soon as her feet hit the ice of the pond she fell flat on her back with a small shriek. She saw Pitch look back to see if she was okay, but he kept running, and knocked right into North, who had somehow gotten ahead of them all with the other Guardians in tow. Somehow they all looked ten times more intimidating now, and Eleanor watched quietly.

"Leaving the party so soon?" North asked, hands on hips, glaring down.

"You didn't even say goodbye," Tooth chipped in, flipping a coin between her fingers before flicking it towards Pitch, who looked down at it. In the second he looked away the fairy darted forward and pulled her fist back.

"A quarter?" he asked, looking back up to her, just in time for her to punch him squarely in the jaw. Eleanor squeaked and shuffled forward, stopping when she saw something white and glittering skid across the ice, and she grabbed it. Opening her fist around it, she looked at the tiny white thing in her hand and felt a mix of repulsion and sympathy. Tooth had just knocked his tooth out, and the girly squeamish part of her wanted to throw it aside and wash her hands screaming 'ew' repeatedly.

But she held onto the tooth, standing shakily, hating the ice thoroughly as she watched what started to unfold before her.

"And that's for my fairies," Tooth snapped, shaking her hand out where she'd punched him, trying to rid her fingers of the sting she felt. Pitch pushed himself up and staggered to his feet, glowering.

"You can't get rid of me, not forever!" he cried, backing away from the Guardians. "There will always be fear."

"So what?" North scoffed, throwing his arms up. "As long as one child believes, we will be here to fight fear."

Eleanor moved slowly, standing off to the side, watching the Nightmare King face off to her friends and family. A snort from behind her made her whirl around, and she saw nightmares creeping over the rocks, eyes focused on them all. Pitch noticed them too, and when she turned back to face him she saw he looked more smug.

"Really? Then what are they doing here?" he asked, gesturing to the nightmares. Eleanor already felt uneasy about this, and she slid her way over to Aster, clinging onto him.

"It's going to go wrong," she hissed, tangling her fingers in his fur. "They're not focused on us, they're focused on him!"

"I can see that sunflower," he whispered back, shifting his arm and wrapping it around her, pulling her close. He looked about, eyes narrowed and he sighed. Aster knew that Eleanor would panic for her friend of sorts. Although Pitch had wronged them all now, he had still done an awful lot for Eleanor and the Pooka knew she felt indebted to him.

"We should help," she whispered, and he looked down into her wide golden-brown eyes.

"What can we do?" he asked, although he didn't feel at all bothered by the prospect of Pitch getting mauled by his own nightmares. It seemed a well deserved irony, that his nightmares would rip him apart. He didn't mind one bit if something utterly terrible happened to the man. But Eleanor did, and as much as he resented it, he didn't want her to be upset by what could happen to him. He turned to North, who was looked around at the nightmares then to Jack.

"That can't be my nightmares, I'm not afraid," he jeered, nudging the younger boy. Jack only smirked slightly, stepping forward to leer at the Nightmare King.

"Looks like it's your fear they smell."

Eleanor watched as realisation dawned over Pitch's face, his golden eyes flashing with fear. The stallions screamed out with some sickening bloodlust and charged, and she could feel the wind whipping about her as they flew past, and she saw Pitch retreating, running, trying in vain to escape his nightmares. She went to move forward, in some attempt to help him, but Aster kept firm hold of her, and though she wanted to struggle against him and run to help the man in trouble, she let him cling to her. There was nothing she could do, they would all be hopelessly outnumbered.

She wouldn't put them all in danger for somebody who had tried so hard to destroy them all. She might owe him for past deeds he had done her, but the others did not. She wouldn't ask something so stupid of them. And it would be stupid.

Pitch's screams echoed about the forest, and instead of trying to get to him to help Eleanor turned around and pressed her face into Aster's soft fur. She hated hearing people in pain, no matter who they were. It always sickened her to her stomach, and she didn't want to hear another person in that kind of agony.

She stayed there she didn't know how long, until Aster stroked her back, leaned down and kissed her atop her head.

"It's over, darlin'."

The brunette pulled away from him, her arms wrapping around herself and she looked away from her Pooka, glancing over at Jack, who was smiling slightly and she found herself smiling too as Tooth burst out laughing, swooping forward and pulling Jack into a hug, whirling around with him and smiling at him fondly.

"She really fancies him," Eleanor said lightly, and she heard Aster chuckle behind her, pulling her back close to his chest, hugging her from behind, stooping to kiss her neck.

"Are you ready now Jack?" North asked, snapping Aster and Eleanor out of their moment, and they both jumped to attention. "To make it official."

Jack nodded mutely, and Eleanor beamed at him as he smiled. A yeti came and passed North the book of Guardians, and she shifted herself away from the main group, watching quietly as Jack took his oath.

It occurred to her that in a sense, she was alone now. Before, she'd always had Jack to hang about with, and they'd both mess about and have fun and neither really had a care in the world. She didn't have anyone else to talk to about how it felt to not be seen, to not be heard or noticed. She'd even had Pitch to talk to every now and then. Their conversations snide and sarcastic, but they'd built up a repertoire and throughout their nasty, stupid conversations she'd managed to vent her feelings, and though he played the fear card more often than should have ever been allowed, though he'd been very underhanded about a lot of things, she'd managed to talk to him about some stuff.

Now Pitch had been dragged who knew where and Jack was becoming a Guardian, and he would seen be gathering hordes of believers.

She felt a small hand slip into hers, and with a start she looked down and smiled a little at the girl who was beaming up at her. She supposed in a way she wasn't alone, as much as she felt she was. She had one believer and it was more than she'd had before. And if she were capable of getting one child to believe in her then there was a high likelihood that more children would too. It just took time...

"Are you okay Eleanor?" Pippa asked, squeezing the Summer spirits' hand.

"I'm fine, I've just got a lot to think about."

"Like what?" the child asked, and Eleanor shrugged.

"Just a lot. Grown up stuff, you know?" she chuckled, and the girl rolled her eyes.

"You're not that much older than me!" she cried, and the taller brunette beamed at the shorter one.

"I might not look it, but I'm very old. Not as old as these guys, but very old by your standards."

Pippa merely grinned and shrugged, realising that she'd got as much information out of the spirit as she possibly could, and instead they both turned and watched as Jack took his oath. There was so much cheering going on, and so much joy that Eleanor didn't really know what was going on. Sandy was sending dream sand fireworks shooting into the air, the world was aglow with vibrant colours again. She was aware of the sleigh pulling up close to her, but she ignored it. For a second, Eleanor sighed contentedly and closed her eyes, allowing peace to sweep over her.

There was still the threat of Old Man Winter, but she was setting that aside in her mind because she was determined not to stress herself out over too much at one time.

"We're going now sunflower," Aster said in her ear, and she jumped in shock, having not realised he was there. She nodded though, opening her eyes to the brilliant golden light of the dream sand, and she turned to get into the sleigh, but felt something snag on her dress.

"Wait, Eleanor!" cried a voice, and she turned to see Pippa there again. "If Jack visits Jamie, will you visit me?"

"Course I will, as long as you keep believing," Eleanor grinned, compromising with the girl.

"Course I will," the girl mimicked, laughing, and Eleanor ruffled her hair before jumping into the sleigh, Aster on her heels.


	54. Chapter 54

I've had a lot of support off you guys since what I told you about myself and my mental wellbeing. You're all amazing, and I'm feeling far more relaxed about everything.

I even managed to write three chapters for this story today, and as for my other stories... I'm kind of putting Master of Darkness on hiatus for a small while until I can get this done, or mostly so, and then I'm working on the oneshot 'Invisible to Him' so I can get that up soon . It's difficult though, I'm struggling with it and I don't know why, lol.

So... I'm throwing in more twists here ;D and everything is kind of going to be happier for a wee while until I make everything shitty again. Our poor Guardians haha!

I'm sorry if there are random spaces between/within words, fanfiction is going kamikaze one me.

As always, enjoy!

* * *

"We still have to deal with Old Man Winter," Eleanor said as they walked through the halls to the main room in the Pole.

"We can regroup tomorrow, if necessary, but I think we need to rest," North said gently, patting her upon the shoulder before slumping off to his room.

"Yeah, I need to get all the teeth back in their places, and make sure my fairie s are okay," Tooth chipped in, hugging Eleanor and smiling at Jack before she flitted off, Sandy shrugged and went after her, intending to restore more dreams to the world, and the Summer spirit was left with Aster and Jack. She looked towards the newest Guardian and offered a small smile, and he grinned back cockily.

"I think I'll stay here tonight, let you two find that room you were on about be fore," he chuckled, earning himself a swat on the arm from Eleanor and raucous laughter from Aster. They were all smiling though, and Eleanor eventually hugged him before letting him go and climbing up onto Aster's back. She barely caught one last glance of the boy who was so much like a brother to her before the wind was roaring in her ears, soft green lights flickered past, and then the couple were emerging onto the soft grass of the Warren. Eleanor slipped down from Aster's back and curled her toes into the grass, smiling up at her Pooka as he turned to face her. There was something different in his eyes though, something she'd not seen in... well, ever.

"We need to talk, flower. It's really important."

* * *

"So... you're saying..." she started, but she was finding it hard to think of the words. Aster had just told her that come the Summer he was to come in heat. For Pooka it only happened once every hundred years, as their species lives so long anyway, it was something they'd evolved so they didn't become over populated.

And apparently, it was a survival instinct for them to be able to mate with others, and the Pooka gene was the more dominant one, so all babies born would be Pooka. Which meant she could in fact have his children, and they could in fact raise a family together, which is something she'd always secretly hoped for. But she had to admit, it was a frightening thought.

"What about the other times we've, you know?" she asked, flushing red. Aster chuckled nervously, ripping up blades of grass. His eyes were focused on his hands, but he couldn't well ignore her all the time and he looked up, evergreen orbs meeting golden-brown ones.

"Those times darlin', it's like I've been shooting blanks. I-I know it's not the best way of putting it, but-"

"Short and simple," she cut in, grinning at him.

There was a silence between them, and Eleanor looked about, a thousand questions and problems running through her mind at once, but she couldn't focus on one long enough to form the words to explain to Aster what she was thinking.

"What would you want to do?" she asked finally, managing to take the pressure off herself and hopefully find out what Aster made of all of this. She looked up to him, and his big eyes were somehow even bigger, and he looked like a deer in headlights. She felt in her stomach, some sense that she knew what he wanted, but she needed to hear him say it.

"M-me?" he asked, and she nodded. "I... crikey... Nora, I want a family with you. I just really do," he said quickly, dragging one of his hands through his fur and over his ears, shaking his head. He fixed her with a gaze so piercing that it felt he were staring into her very soul, and she trembled a little. "I want nothing more than for this place to be a little less lonely. I want young'uns and I... I want them with you. You know there'd be noone else in the world I'd want this with."

It was then all her concerns seemed to crash against her, and she bit her lip, reaching forward and taking his hand.

"What if we did have children? They'd be Pooka... would they accept me... as their mum? Not being the same species and all..."

"Sweetheart, course they would," Aster said quickly, turning and wrapping his arms around the spirit, pulling her into his lap and into his chest, nuzzling her hair. "You'd be their mother, and everyone loves you anyway," he added with a chuckle, kissing her atop her head.

"How do you, you know, normally cope in heat?" she asked, lacing her fingers with his, holding his hand and resting gently against him.

"Normally I sleep through it. I don't know how I'll act sunflower, I've never actually been awake to experience it. Let alone have a mate."

She nuzzled her face into the crook of his shoulder, kissing him gently there, and she smiled to herself when she heard she soft gasp come from his lips. He held her close to him, rocking her there while she cuddled into him, shifting herself so she could pepper his face with kisses, until he turned and captured her lips with his, easing himself back so he was lying on the grass, her small frame a top his, her weight comforting upon him.

She felt so relaxed, and then another weight weighed upon her, making her feel uneasy. In a second she was short of breath, and panic rose in her chest, and the world flipped and she was looking up at Aster. She could see the confusion in his eyes, feel his hand stroke against her cheek tenderly, and she shook her head.

"We can't have babies," she whispered, the panic still there, and she was only vaguely aware that Aster was shushing her, kissing her forehead, trying to calm her.

"Why not, flower?" he asked quietly, and she could hear the hurt in his voice, and she felt guilt wrap around her on top of everything else.

"Old Man Winter," she choked, and that was all she needed to say for him to sigh in realisation and defeat and nod his head once jerkily, before lying beside her and pulling her close. They lay in silence, while her panic and sadness ebbed into hiccups, and he pondered everything that was happening in the world.

* * *

I've searched the world over, there is no sign of Winter," North said calmly, his thumb and index finger rubbing over his bearded chin. Everyone was gathered in the main room, surrounding a table with a map on. Eleanor and Tommy were pointing to places they'd seen the darker spirit. Mexico had a marker in, Tommy had even seen him in France when she'd been alone. Eleanor was quiet for a small while, then she pointed up to the Arctic circle.

"The Pole... he's been here too," she said quietly, and there was silence ringing about her.

"What?" North asked, his tone incredulous.

"When you were all in the Warren, I came here. I went down to the file room because I thought there would be information about him. Tommy didn't know much about him, so I came to find out more... and he was there."

"You're sure?" Jack asked, stepping forward, leaning on his staff.

"That's where I got the frost burn from, on my neck," she explained, her fingers twitching up to brush against her neck, and she sighed slightly, feeling all eyes on her.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Tooth asked, flitting about looking increasingly panicked. Sandy patted her on the arm gently as she slowed her movements a little, hovering over them all while just biting her lip.

"I tried to, but Easter was ruined, and I was more concerned about Aster," she retorted, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. She felt like it was her fault they'd lost him, but if she'd not got out of there when she did there'd be an Eleanor shaped ice cube in the lower quarters now.

"Oh God, that's right..." Tooth muttered, landing gently on the floor and sticking a pin in the Pole, while Aster shifted and pulled Eleanor close to him, her back pressed flush against his chest as he leaned down to kiss her neck.

"I'm sorry about that by the way," he muttered, and she made a soft curious humming noise and leaned her head towards him, listening. "I didn't mean the things I said, and I never apologised for them."

"The egg was lovely, don't you worry about it," she said quietly, smiling a little, and she felt his body ease up, his muscles relaxing as he realised he wasn't in as much trouble as he thought.

"So he had been in a few spots over the globe, and here in the Pole. What is his plan?" North asked, pacing around whilst running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"He says he wants to destroy me. I... I don't really know," Eleanor muttered, wringing her hands together. She didn't like the attention she was getting now, and it made her uncomfortable.

"He never did like Summer..." Tommy said quietly, wandering about the room with a vague expression on her face. "So it's not really surprising he resents you."

"Then we'll just have to keep her safe," Aster said, determination in his voice.

"We'll keep looking for him, but it should be easy to keep him under wraps," Jack said, nudging Aster out of the way playfully and hugging Eleanor himself, ruffling her hair as only an annoying older brother could. "I mean who'd mess with us now we've taken down Pitch? He probably realised he was being stupid and went back to his hidey hole."

"You think so?" Eleanor giggled, poking Jack in his ribs and slipping out of his arms.

"Yeah, I mean look at me. Nobody would mess with me now," he chuckled, winking at her, so she shook her head at him, snorting derisively.

"Sure thing Jack," she laughed.

They spent a good half the day planning and talking about what they could do to try and track Old Man Winter down to find him, possibly corner him and find out what he was doing. They would of course have to go in a group, because they simply wouldn't be able to face him alone if they ran into him. In those instances the best option would be to run as fast as possible and get out of there.

North fed them all, laying on a small buffet with plenty to eat and drink and halfway into the evening they decided that they had everything in order, and they could all go home now. Eleanor clambered up onto Aster's back and they shouted their goodbye's before diving down the rabbit hole. In seconds the usual sweet smells of the Warren flooded Eleanor's nose, and she smiled as Aster made his way through the Warren with her, finding his way to the burrow.

As he slid down into their nest with her, he dropped her gently on the bed of heather and stooped to kiss her, hovering above her slight frame as he peppered kisses over her jaw.

"I'll take care of you love," he whispered, lying down beside her and pulling her close. She wrapped her arms about him, twisting his fur around her fingers as she snuggled close to him.

"I know you will."


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter one got deleted somehow, so I replaced it. Ignore that update guys, seriously.

But this one is all good

So I hope you enjoy it, and I need to do a bit of editing on the enxt chapter to make it a suitable T, otherwise we may cross into the realms of M, and that is bad. Very bad.

And if random spaces appear in the sentences and words, it's fanfiction having a dick day, not me. I am capable of typing without hitting the space key at random intervals ;D

Also kids, I made a Jackrabbit fic called **'Tricky Dreams**' and I hate it with every fibre of my being, but it was for a friend... so yeah. Check it out maybe if you're into that sort of stuff

Please review :)

* * *

"Jack! Come on it's Summer, clear off," she laughed jumping closer to him as he looked over the busy streets of the Salford suburbs. His eyes seemed a little vague, and he seemed very relaxed, as if he were in his own little world, although his dark brows were scrunched up ever so slightly as he watched people going about their Summer holidays. "Jack?" she repeated, leaning in so her nose was mere centimetres from his. That did the trick; his pupils contracted, his eyes widened and he jumped away from her crying out.

"Nora, don't do that," he scoffed, smirking as he swung his staff around to catch her legs, but she jumped over it, and grinned at him.

"You okay Sleeping Beauty? You were in your own little world there," she giggled, closing the gap again and wrapping her arm around his waist, while he draped his over her shoulder. Slowly they walked down the hill they'd found themselves on, heading down from Salford Precinct which had changed since last time Eleanor had been there.

There was no longer children running around the streets with new bicycles or toys, playing together. The shopping centre was dilapidated, and the streets were lined with rubbish, middle aged alcoholics and drug addicts no older than twenty. Children were parents here, and they both watched sadly as a sixteen year old girl pushed a pram by with a baby in it.

"What's happened to the world?" she muttered, glaring at a group of youths who wore dark hoodies that hid their faces, and they were shouting abuse at people that passed.

"If areas are poor then people find ways of coping," Jack said quietly, but she noticed how he ran his fingers over the sleeve of his hoody nervously, as if in some way he was affiliated with them and their antisocial behaviour.

"Well, I can get them to take the hoodies off," Eleanor remarked with a smirk of her own, and all of a sudden the temperature rose five degrees. People walking by gasped and shared incredulous looks, fanning themselves and moving indoors for shade and air conditioning. They watched, amused, as the boys at first attempted to brush it off. But then they succumbed to the sweltering heat, and they all pulled their sweaters off to reveal they were in fact thin, gangly, baby faced kids. Both the spirits scoffed at them and turned to walk away.

And they would have, if it weren't for the five year old girl in denim shorts and a white tank top with chocolate stains on it staring at them with the smallest smile on her face. She had bright blue eyes and dark black hair, and she was barefooted too.

"You made it warmer," she giggled, looking at Eleanor, who simply stared back in shock. The girl approached and grabbed hold of Nora's hand and pulling her away from Jack. The child whirled her around, swapped the hand she was holding and extended her other hand to Jack, who took it hesitantly.

"You can see us sweetheart?" she asked, crouching down to the girls' height and smiling slightly. The girl nodded, and smiled widely at her.

"Yep, and I love Summer, so can you make it warm for a long time? Like, all year?" she asked innocently, smiling wider and showing she had baby teeth missing. Eleanor thought she was the cutest thing ever, and laughed.

"Oh, I would, but then my friends wouldn't be happy with me, would they?" she asked, nodding to Jack. "He's Jack Frost. Do you like snow?"

"I love snow!" the girl cried, jumping excitedly.

"Then I can't make it Summer all year round, or you wouldn't get snow!" Eleanor cried with as much enthusiasm, and the girl only giggled before letting go of their hands and running away. Eleanor stood upright and watched her go, smiling fondly at her as she grabbed hold of her mothers skirt and swung herself around. It was her turn to be lost in her own little world, wondering what it would be life if she and Aster could have children. If she would be a good mother, and how everything would pan out for them both. If they could be parents, would they not be too busy every other season? Aster had Spring to bring around twice a year, once in each hemisphere, and then there was Easter too. And she had Summer...

"What're you thinking about?" Jack asked her, wrapping an arm around her again and urging her on, but his tone had changed. He sounded softer, kinder, and very curious. Eleanor felt herself flush red, and she rubber her forearm nervously as Jack led her down the main street, past Salford University and the train station heading into Manchester. They remembered briefly when they were both here years ago, on Christmas Day, and they both wandered the streets then and took in all the damage the war had done.

Now he was pulling her along trying to coax something from her, and she was reluctant to tell him.

"It's nothing, Jack, just something between me and Aster," she explained quietly, looking up to him. She saw his icy blue eyes flashing, saw the concern cross her face and all of a sudden they had ground to a halt and he was looking her right in the eye, his brow furrowed and his lips curved downwards into a frown.

"What's happened? Have you fallen out?" he asked, and before he could bombard her with more questions she was smiling at him, hugging him and shaking her head.

"No, nothing like that," she laughed, resting her head upon his shoulder, and she found it comforting when he wrapped his arms around her too and rested his head upon hers, his cheek pressed against her hair.

"Then what's going on? If I have to freeze cottontail's ass I will," he joked, pulling away from her and smiling down warmly.

"That won't be necessary," she laughed, rubbing the back of her neck nervously "We're actually... thinking about starting a family."

There was a pause as Jack smiled, but then his face dropped into an expression of shock, his mouth falling open in a small 'o' shape, his eyes widening as the weight of her words hit him. Eleanor thought he was about to react very badly, but instead he leapt up into a somersault and cheered, grabbing hold of her and hugging her, laughing.

"That'd be great! Seriously? You're starting a family!?" he cried, laughing and cheering, whirling her around. His joy was infectious, and she laughed along with him, letting him jump about like an excited child. But she still had her fears about it, so she grabbed his arm and hushed him, trying to calm him down so she could explain.

"We're only thinking about it, there's things we're not sure of yet," she said gently, and his wide grin faded a little, confusion flitting over his eyes.

"Like what? You two have been together forever, I think you'd both make great parents."

"It's not so much about us, it's more to do with Old Man Winter. If I do get pregnant then I don't know how long my term will last, I don't know how long the babies would need me there until they can toddle, and I don't want to be away from them for too long if we need to sort anything out..."

"... I see... couldn't you hold it off a couple years?" he asked, leaning against a wall.

"No, Aster's only fertile once every hundred years," she explained, but when she saw the confused look on his face she felt the need to explain. "It's-"

"It's a Pooka thing. I don't need to know the ins and outs of your kangaroo," he chuckled, raising his hands up to stop her going on, and she giggled and shoved him a little, shooting him a reproachful look. "Look, Nora, Winter cleared off... and if the option is do it now or wait a hundred years, then what would you rather do? Who know, something else might have come up then..."

The girl sighed and climbed up onto the wall, sitting quietly, her eyes cast down as she thought about everything. Jack shifted by her side and jumped up onto the wall to sit beside her, pulling her into a one armed hug, looking down at her with a smile in his eyes.

"I know I'm not the person people come to if they want advice, because I'm Jack Frost and I mess things up-"

"-you do not," Eleanor chipped in, but he hushed her.

"I do a lot of the time... but I know you better than I know anyone else. And I know you want a family. And from what you've told me about Bunny he would have only told you this if it was something he really wanted. He's a hard head a lot of the time, and a jackass too, but when it comes to you he'd bend over backwards to make you happy, no matter what it meant for him. Cos he loves you."

"Since when did you get so clever and sentimental?" she asked, looking up at him, her golden-brown eyes shining.

"I've always been clever and sentimental, thank you," he scoffed, winking at her. "I just can't be bothered showing it. I have a reputation for being on the naughty list you know, I made the record!"

"Ah, yes, but North mentioned to me he'd have to put you on the nice list for helping them with Pitch," Eleanor laughed, nudging him.

"I'll see how long it takes me to change his mind. But until then, you go home and make me an uncle, and I'll try my hardest to drink that image away with North."

Jack jumped up then and sped upwards through the air without warning, leaving Eleanor sat alone on the wall laughing, albeit blushing furiously before she hopped up and burst into the air after him. As a phoenix she soared above the city in the North West of England, looking down upon the bustling streets before she burst into flame and vanished, all that was left of her being sparks and ashes raining down where she had been.


	56. Chapter 56

Hey tiddlers!

So a WARNING before we start this chapter! It contains themes of intimacy and sex. although nothing is explicit it's still there... so yeah :)

I hope you've all been enjoying the last couple chapters, and I had the STRANGEST dream last night about RotG, and I've had it a couple times before and I'm starting to get funny feels about it because they say strange shit happens when you have a dream over and over. Basically, I'm chilling with Bunny, and I say I'm bored. So we both go to the Pole and get absolutely drunk on vodka with North, and then I was telling North how I really want another tattoo doing (I actually have three already, but I want more) and he said okay! So we found a tattoo studio in my town and then I got a tattoo and woke up.

I'll be honest, I was totally convinced I had 'naughty' tattoo'ed on my arse, and I even had to check in the mirror.

And I was kind of disappointed that I didn't have it... such is my life.

So yeah, I broke my knuckle the other week pretending I was North, sword fighting, and last night I dreamed of having a tattoo inspired by him, and LORD knows why we all thought it'd be a good idea to have it done on my backside. Drunk dream me has some explaining to do.

Anyways, that's an insight into my life :) Enjoy the story!

* * *

Aster was laying in the long grass in the Warren, eyes closed, breathing softly, just warming his fur in the sun. He'd been itching for days. Just itching to do something, and it seemed for the last few days Eleanor had been avoiding him. He knew she had reasons to be nervous about the idea of starting a family, knew she didn't know if it would all work out and she was still so afraid of Old Man Winter. He'd managed to get North to convince her that the old geezer had gone back into hiding because they'd proved their strength. There hadn't been sign of him for months, and every spirit going had been on the look out for him.

She was just nervous though, and he understood why. Because he was too. This could mean the start of a Pooka society again, this could mean the revival of a race of which he was the last of... it worried him, because he'd let himself start getting his hopes up, so if it didn't work out then he'd feel utterly disappointing. It would feel crushing... and he knew that, but no matter how many times he told himself to get a grip and shake it off, he couldn't stop feeling a little giddy about the idea. He would never tell Nora though. It would be like putting extra pressure on her, and she didn't need that.

He wondered if she'd come back for Summer... he understood if she didn't, wouldn't be angry or upset with her, because it was just her way of telling him she wasn't ready for this, and if she came to tell him face to face he didn't know if he'd be able to stop himself jumping her.

The Pooka could feel his stomach twisting as he thought about her, and he grumbled as he rolled over and pushed himself up. Setting off on a walk, he pulled his knife out and started hacking at grass and flowers, lopping the heads off tulips and cutting everything shorter. He'd never been so mind numbingly bored in all his life, and now he was he didn't know what to do with himself.

"Struth, I'm gonna just sleep," he muttered to himself, kicking rocks and glaring at trees. He'd never had to deal with being in heat before, and he just couldn't cope. His natural instinct was to find Eleanor and create new life with her... but his common sense was telling him to stay put or he'd only make an issue for himself.

"Why would you want to do that?" came a soft voice from behind him, and he froze. His heart was pounding a million miles an hour, his ears were stuck upright, twitching to hear better. Slowly, ever so slowly, he turned around and saw Eleanor stood there. He didn't know why, but her eyes seemed brighter, her features more defined, yet more delicate... her hair waved softly over her face, and she stood with her hands clasped behind her back, smiling ever so slightly at him.

"I don't know," he answered, smiling slightly himself. It felt like his heart was about to burst from his chest, and the longer he looked at her the less he cared about whether it did or not. He walked towards her slowly, feeling as if a fire burned in his stomach, building itself up hotter and hotter, and fire coursed through his veins. "You alright darlin'?"

"I'm fine, you're looking a bit flustered though," she said with a small smirk, her hands unclasping from behind her, so her arms swung down by her side and her hands found their way to her hips.

"I wonder why," he chuckled, standing before her and looking down at her, breathing deeply to try and calm himself and the pounding in his chest. His mind was clouding slowly, his senses numbing as one instinct and one thought became more and more prominent in his mind. He reached his arm out slowly and trailed his fingers down her neck, over her collar bone and down her side. He rested his hand upon her hips, before he mirrored the action with his other hand, squeezing her there slightly and pulling her in close, smiling at her.

Eleanor pulled him flush against her, their chests pressed together and they both found that the others' hearts were hopping about as wildly as their own. Eleanor could feel his heart banging it's own rhythm against his ribs, and he swore he could hear her own skip a beat every now and then.

Her arms wound up around his neck, and just like that they were kissing. It started soft and gentle – almost nervous. But then it intensified, heated up, and it became more passionate and insistent. She felt his hands slide back up to her waist and she melted a little bit at his touch. It was like she were giving up to the inevitable, and she wondered briefly why she'd been avoiding him over the start of Summer, since she'd known he'd come into heat. In her heart she wanted his children, she wanted to start a family, and she wanted to make him happy.

His lips trailed down from hers over her jawline, down her neck and he bit gently there. His name slipped from her mouth, the last syllable turning into a needy, breathless whine. She was shivering under his touch, and he couldn't hold himself back.

"Right, come on," he said quickly, scooping her up into his arms and throwing her over his shoulder. She cried out in shock, but laughed as he rushed through the Warren, intent on getting them to the nest so they wouldn't be disturbed by anything at all. When he dropped her onto the heather he wasted no time in leaning over her and capturing her lips again. Her fingers raked over his back, while his hands ran down her body and caught the hem of her dress. He pulled it up over her body, breaking the kiss to pull it off over her head, and he looked down at her.

Though his mind was becoming steadily clouded with his base instincts, he shoved everything aside and clung to that shred of sense.

"Sunflower, are you okay with this? Truly?" he asked quietly, looking her right in the eye, his vibrant green eyes burning with desire, but he needed to be sure she wanted to start a family now as much as he did. She didn't say a word, just nodded mutely and raised her head up to kiss him.

She only smiled and pulled him closer.

* * *

When he'd marked her as his mate, he'd thought he'd felt whole then. Like he'd found a piece of him within another that he had no idea was missing in the first place, but somehow the girl beside him had made him feel whole, and happy, and everything they had together over the last century had been perfect and wonderful.

But with her lying beside him now, in all her natural beauty, her hair damp with sweat and stuck haphazardly to her forehead, with her arm draped across his torso, and her head resting against his shoulder... the prospect that over this Summer she could become pregnant with his children, that they could begin their journey towards making a family, and in some way he'd manage to give her that family he knew she'd always wanted.

"Go to sleep," she whispered suddenly, her head tilting the smallest degree so she was facing him, her bright eyes flickering open to look at him. "I can feel your heart pounding... stop thinking and go to sleep."

"I can't help it," he muttered, shifting slightly, pulling her body closer and feeling her warmth.

"Aster, shush now," she whispered, reaching her arm up to stroke his ears, propping herself up on her elbow so she was looking down at him, peppering his face with soft kisses while she soothed him. Soon enough his breathing had slowed and he let his eyes slide closed, his whole body relaxing and she smiled down at him, pecking him on the lips and laying down again, her head resting on his shoulder, nose pressed into his neck and his warm soft fur.

"I love you Nora," the Pooka whispered, rubbing her back gently before just holding her close.

"I love you too Aster."


	57. Chapter 57

It seems to always be two in the morning,  
When my mind reels so quickly  
That my body seems sluggish compared.  
That I consider the poison dripping,  
Dripping through my mind.  
Darkening my thoughts.  
Trickling down to my heart.  
Black.  
Everything,  
Is black.  
When it all starts feeling too much.  
And I roll over, close my eyes.  
Wait for dreams, and hope-  
Hope that I don't wake up again.  
Because my reality is a nightmare.  
The bitter truth.  
And my dreams  
Are a beautiful lie.

I'm in a bad mood again.

I'll get over it though, I always do.

* * *

Eleanor yawned widely and stretched her arms out wide, sitting up and rubbing some warmth back into her bare legs, and she looked down at her stomach, biting her lip. Summer was coming to an end, and Aster had come out of heat, and she spent every morning wondering if she were perhaps with child. She wouldn't know for a few months... but perhaps the thing that worried her more was the prospect of there being many babies.

She knew Pooka and other normal rabbits would have litters of quite large numbers. She was human, so her anatomy would really only allow for one or two babies, triplets at most. And that would be an anomaly.

But there was the fact that she was marked by Aster, and their bodies and souls seemed to resonate with one another. She'd felt his need to continue the bloodline and have children, she could feel his emotions, she could feel his pain... so what was to say her body wouldn't synchronise somewhat to what a Pooka's would. Would it be possible for that ingrained bond they both shared to influence her body to let out more eggs than normal so she would have more children? She could only imagine it would be very difficult to carry a large number of babies.

It was something she'd only considered half way through the Summer, but she hadn't brought the concern up with Aster because it seemed too little too late.

Standing, she pulled on the pair of black shorts Phil had made her so long ago, and a white t-shirt she'd been given by North simply to give her some range in her clothing. She normally stuck to her dress, but she just didn't want to wear it today, so shorts and a shirt was a better idea.

"Aster, you need to get ready for Spring," she said, and she heard her mate mumbling in his half conscious state, rolling over and groaning as he stretched his limbs out, working his muscles.

"Are you all sorted out with Tommy?" he yawned, and she smiled as she turned around to look at him. He was lounging on his back, arms folded behind his head, a small smile playing on his lips.

"You know I am, I just need to make sure she's got everything sorted out herself... you know what she's like. I'll be home later, and I'll make dinner. What would you like?"

"Ah, actually North asked if we wanted to go up to his for a Sunday dinner. So when you've finished up with Tommy you can head up there?"

"Okay," she chirped, stepping across the burrow to reach him and planting one foot either side of his waist. She lowered herself down slowly so she straddled his stomach, and she stooped forward to kiss him sweetly. "I love you," she whispered, pressing her nose to his.

"I love you too petal," he whispered back, wrapping his arms around her for a quick hug, before letting her go again. "See you later."

"Later," she said, getting up and crawling up the rabbit hole, stepping out into the cool air of the Warren, and she burst into flame, soaring up before transporting herself away to Rome, in Italy, where she'd arranged with Tommy to meet at the Colosseum. She felt the air change around her, Italian air colder and more bitter, and she swooped down, perching atop one of the crumbling stone arches, looking around for Tommy. She eventually spotted the girl stood down on the street below, rocking back and forth on her heels and whistling a sweet tune to herself while she waited for Eleanor. Changing back into her normal form, Eleanor landed just feet from Tommy, watched as the girl flinched and shied away slightly until the flames that lapped out had receded.

"Hi Tommy," Eleanor said with a small smile, hugging the girl quickly, but she felt how tense she was, and she pulled away. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just... I feel uneasy lately," she explained, rubbing her forearm lightly, averting her eyes.

"Really?" Eleanor asked the red head, feeling her stomach plummet as her mind immediately reeled over what it could be that was making Tommy so nervous and uneasy, when normally she was such a calm, relaxed and laid back girl.

"It's probably nothing, so don't worry about it. I think I've most likely been alone too long," she said with a small laugh, her Swedish accent lilting her words, and Eleanor smiled a little. Tommy really was a kind person. She had such a sweet voice and one of the kindest personalities of a girl Eleanor had ever met. On occasion, she could be ratty and short with people, but it was as the Autumn girl said herself, she probably spent too much time alone.

"Try hanging around with Jack for a little bit," the Summer spirit suggested with a laugh. "You'll have enough social interaction in five minutes to last you years."

"I know," Tommy laughed too, and then her wide smile shrank a little, leaving her with just a small grin. "So if you're all ready for me to take over from Summer, I'll go ahead and do it... it's been a warm one this year, very _fiery_," she said coyly, emphasising the last word.

"Well, I have been in a good mood," Eleanor replied, smirking. "And I'm telling you no more about it, so off with you!"

Tommy merely laughed and stepped forward, pulling Eleanor into a hug as she wished her well until they saw one another again in two seasons' time. When she pulled away she simply turned and walked down the street, her footsteps light and springy, whistling that same sweet tune Eleanor had heard before they'd greeted one another.

The brunette watched her go, her figure fading into the mist that had formed around them, and with a shiver she burst into flame and left, completely unaware of the steely grey eyes that had been watching them both.


	58. Chapter 58

I'm in a far better mood than I was at 2.00am this morning, when I posted the last chapter.

Also, if I post any depressing/worrying poetry, pay it no attention, because I'm generally just venting off steam and it makes me feel a little easier about myself. Thanks to the people that have been asking how I am the last week or so, and who have been reassuring me and supporting me too. You're actually all fantastic. I don't think I'd be here if I didn't have the support from you guys that I do, because I'm getting nothing from people I live with, or around.

I owe you a lot more than just chapters to a story xD but that's the best I can do at the moment.

I was also wondering if anyone wanted a oneshot? I've made about four in the last week or so, which you can check out if you want :)

**'The Pills Don't Bring Sweet Dreams'** - based around Sandy, although there's a lot more to it.

**'Invisible To Him'** - one I had on my poll! :D It's about Jack and his sister.

And then **'Tricky Dreams'** and **'Your Eyelashes In The Moonlight'** are both Jackrabbit fics. I don't like Jackrabbit, but I can write it apparently :p

So yeah, if you have an idea for something you want written, or whatever, then send me it in a message or a review and I'll see what I can do. It would just be a oneshot... but I like writing, it keeps me busy, and the little onesies give me a nice distraction from the longer fics I'm doing.

For now though, enjoy :)

* * *

Eleanor moaned as she rolled onto her back, blinking as the mid morning light streamed down into the Warren. She'd not been able to sleep in the burrow last night, finding it too stuffy, and now she felt ill. It might have been because she'd slept in the cool air, and when she pressed the back of her hand to her head she felt ice cold. It took a deep breath and a certain amount of will power, but she managed to push herself into an upright position, and she blinked slowly as she looked over the green fields and the pretty flowers.

The sheer vibrancy of the place made her head spin, and she opened her mouth to call out;

"Aster!"

It wasn't a very loud shout, but she knew he would hear her because he was still within the Warren sorting some things out for Spring, and his hearing was the best she'd ever known of.

It didn't take two minutes and she saw him bounding towards her, his head cocked to the side as he regarded her and he slowed down to a walk. Crouching beside her, his hand reached out and he stroked her hair back from her face and leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead.

"You alright darlin'?" he asked quietly, shuffling forward a little on his back legs, cupping her cheeks in his hands and leaning down to peck her on the lips.

"I don't want to be here right now. I'm sick of just being stuck in the same place..." Eleanor complained. Aster looked at a loss for what to do, so he stared at her, his green eyes wide and curious as he thought about what to do. Eleanor spoke up first though, not giving him chance to flounder about for longer than necessary to try and figure something out. "I want to go see Tooth. I need to see Tooth."

"T-Tooth?" he asked, sounding startled. "Sunflower, I think she'll be busy."

"I don't care, I want Tooth," she insisted, getting up and ignoring how her head span, how her heart thudded away and she staggered away from Aster and burst into flame before him. The Pooka watched with wide green eyes, concern flooding his mind and with a groan he opened up one of his tunnels and raced through it, coming out on one of the pillars in the Tooth Palace, shouting out for the other Guardian.

"Tooth!"

"I'm here, and so is Eleanor. Bunny, what did you do?!" Tooth cried, whizzing down from the main hub where all the fairies flitted through for their orders, and she whacked Aster over the head. "I've never seen her cry so hard before!"

"She's crying?" the rabbit cried, and Tooth stopped her chastising and stared at him, shocked. Her mauve eyes were wide and she nodded her head slightly.

"You didn't know?"

"No! She was just saying how she was fed up of being in the Warren, and now she's here and crying," he groaned, leaping up to the next platform and making his way around the Palace as best he could that way. The inability to fly here was a bit of a hindrance.

"Oh... well she's upset about something," Tooth muttered, shrugging a bit and looking sheepish before she rubbed the spot she'd slapped on Aster's head and flew off again, he presumed to find his mate and comfort her somehow. He eventually managed to make it to the main hub where Tooth and Eleanor were and he smiled wanly at the sight of his sunflower sat on the floor - knees tucked up to her chest - doing what he could only describe as sulking.

"Hey petal," he cooed, and she glared at him, which only made him smile. He knew he shouldn't, knew it would only result in her getting more upset, but he did it anyway. "Come here now, come here," he urged, and she sighed and got up, walked over to him and cuddled into his arms.

"I feel horrible, I'm just bored," she mumbled, and he nodded slightly. "Can I stay here with Tooth for a couple of days? She said it's okay."

"Fair dinkum darlin', you can do whatever you want," he chuckled, kissing her atop her head.

"Oh, yay!" Tooth cheered, whirling around gleefully. "It'll be like a sleepover! It's so rare I get any time to just talk to a girl!"

Aster looked down and saw Eleanor smiling slightly, and she nodded into his chest before standing up on her tiptoes and kissing him on his cheek.

"I'll be okay, it'll just be a girls weekend or something," she said quietly, and he nodded. "And you better get back to sorting Spring out."

"Don't tell me how to do my job," he chuckled, letting her go and watching her walk casually away from him, smirking back.

"Then show me you can do it without supervision," she teased, and he just scoffed at her before leaving her and Tooth to it, and heading back to the Warren to sort his plans out. He was having a hard time melting the frost away, and he'd gone to Jack about it to see if he was doing anything, but it was apparent he wasn't. There seemed to be a small issue with the global temperature himself, and even after consulting Mother Nature he was no closer to the answer.

It was just one of those things he supposed. He's have to up the temperature a little bit, make it a warmer Spring than usual, but he'd work it out. Eleanor would just have to see if she could smooth it out over Summer, and then everything would be fine and dandy again.

* * *

Old Man Winter stood smirking at the pillar of ice in the Antarctic, admiring how the sharp shards glittered darkly with the black sand that was frozen within. He was very aware of what Pitch Black had managed in a few short days, and knew that if he'd had more time to plan then he probably would have destroyed the Guardians from within. If he'd found that petulant toe rag Frost before he'd begun and convinced him to join his side then those four idiots wouldn't have stood a chance.

Circling the colossal pillar, he took in the jagged edges and the darkness within, and reached out slowly, breaking one of the smaller spikes off. He held it in his hands, and with just a small amount of will the broken shard in his hands had morphed itself into a long, thin dagger, ice cold and glittering black.

As his steely grey eyes swept over his new weapon, he curled his fingers around the blade and hissed at how sharp it was, but found his twisted smile grew larger.

He knew three things.

That cold and dark went so, so well together.

That he would need Pitch on his side if he were to win.

And that whoever he drove this though would stand no chance.


	59. Chapter 59

"So what's been going on?" Tooth asked, sprawled over her soft bed. The mattress was stuffed with feathers, as were the pillows and the blanket, so it all felt like lying on one big soft cloud. Eleanor was lying on her back nibbling at the sugar free cookies she'd been offered.

"I just feel like I'm going insane in there," she muttered, ignoring how her stomach churned as she ate. "It's all... stupid. Do you never get fed up of looking at the same four walls every day, for years on end?" she asked, tilting her head and looking at Tooth, who was propping her head up on her elbow, considering the girl.

"Well... no. But this is where I know I'm meant to be, and I feel happy here. I know Jack stays in Burgess... maybe you'd like to stay in London for a while to see if you like it better?"

"I don't think it's that, Tooth, I don't know. It's only recently. I've felt fed up and frustrated and I can't deal with it," Eleanor huffed, setting down the cookie and pulling a face. "And I don't think your cookies are settling with me."

"Really? North makes them for me, because he knows I don't have sugar... he's really good at making cookies."

"I know," the Summer spirit huffed, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face. "I normally like his cooking."

There was a pause, and Tooth bit her lip before she opened her mouth to speak.

"Is it just sweet things you want?"

"Right now? Yeah, I've been craving them for ages," Eleanor mumbled, and then she caught a glimpse of the expression on Toothiana's face, and she felt her heart stop for a second. "Oh, no, Tooth don't even suggest that right now, it's not even possible!" she cried, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at the fairy, who simply let it hit her face, but her own small smile remained. If anything it grew bigger.

"But it could be! Jack told me you and Bunny were trying for a family! Eleanor, this could be it!"

"I don't think- when did Jack tell you?" she asked quickly, and she saw the fairy blush before she shot up and whizzed around the room.

"Don't change the subject! Do you think you could be pregnant?!"

"Tooth, shut up! When did Jack tell you?" Eleanor cried, jumping up and clenching her fists by her side. The fairy stopped whirling about in excitement and bit her lip.

"He comes over every now and then, and we... we have a look at his memories," Tooth said quietly.

"He lets you look at his memories?" Eleanor asked, smiling slightly. The pair completely fancied one another. If jack was trusting her with something so dear to him then he must like her an awful lot.

"Just because I know how to help him unlock more of them," Tooth snapped, crossing her arms and huffing. "Anyway, we're not talking about me, we're talking about you! Eleanor, are you pregnant?"

The brunette knew her feathered friend would turn the conversation back to her sooner or later, but she had hoped to get a little more information out of her before she did. It didn't matter really, she'd just have to bug Jack about it afterwards.

"I... suppose it's possible," she admitted, and slowly she traced her fingers over her stomach, wondering if there could be a life growing within her now. Something she and Aster had created together. "I don't know for sure though."

"We should get you a pregnancy test!" Tooth cheered, leaping into the air and dancing while suspended there. She was far too happy about this.

"And how do you suggest we do this, oh clever one?"

"We... oh, I don't know. I'm not human, and you're not, um..."

"Visible?" Eleanor offered, and Tooth nodded sheepishly. There was silence, and Tooth landed softly on the bed again, rubbing her chin.

"We could see about getting someone to buy one for us?" she suggested, her feathers perking up again, and Eleanor shook her head.

"I don't think convincing a child to get me a test would work..."

"Probably not. We could... we could ask North?" the fairy suggested, smiling a little.

"North already knows about us trying for a family, doesn't he?" Eleanor sighed, rubbing her temple with her hand, wondering if everyone knew about their secret, and considering how bloody she should let Aster beat Jack.

"I'm sorry! I was just so excited about maybe becoming an aunt, and I know I'm assuming a little bit-"

"Tooth," Eleanor cut in, feeling a little shocked that the other woman would think she'd be offended at her wanting to be an aunty. "If I am having a baby then of course you'll be an aunty. We're all family, aren't we?"

"Really?"

Eleanor didn't need to say anything, she only nodded happily and that was enough to send Tooth squealing before she dove down and wrapped her arms around the Summer spirit.

"Well come on then, we need to see if North can help!"

"Pregnancy test? Yes, I bought some when Toothy said you were trying for babies," the older man laughed, winking at her before pulling open a drawer in his office and handing a box to her. "I don't know how they work, but the bathroom is down the hall."

Although Tooth offered to come and help her by means of reading the tests, Eleanor assured her she could do it herself and she walked out of the office slowly, trying not to hear the pair chattering excitedly about how they could help babysit and making special boxes for their teeth.

She felt extremely sick... it was only half way through Autumn, but considering the first time they'd started to try and conceive a child was around the beginning of Summer, it gave a two to five month gap in which she could have already been pregnant. It was August when Aster had gone out of heat, so they'd had three months within the Summer, and if she was there were definitely two months she'd already been pregnant...

She closed the door to the bathroom when she reached it, sitting down on the rim of the bathtub as she opened the box and read through the instructions. She remembered back when she was little, the only way a woman would know she was pregnant was if she started showing, or missed her period. She'd not actually had a normal body clock since her death and rebirth... so she didn't know if she was able to conceive, there was just something that told her she could have children that eased her mind a little.

She read the leaflet twice, and took the test, setting it down on the side of the sink for the sixty seconds it needed to change colour.

Pink meant she wasn't. Blue meant she was.

And it would tell her how many weeks along she was too.

While she waited she considered pacing nervously, but it seemed like too much effort at that moment in time, so instead she looked at herself in the mirror, long and hard. Turning slowly to the side, she raised her top to below her bust and ran her hand over her stomach, not really noticing any difference in how it looked. She'd never really had a flat stomach, there had always been what her mother called 'puppy fat' there, and she knew her hips were larger than the average, but it was always what she'd heard was referred to as 'child bearing hips'. Her waist was fairly skinny though, and she liked her figure overall. She wondered vaguely what motherhood would do to it.

Glancing down, she saw something that made her heart stop.

Blue.

"Oh God," she whispered, gaping. She didn't wait a moment, and filled a glass full of water and downed it. She repeated the action a few times until she simply couldn't drink any more, and she took another test.

And then another.

And another one.

Blue. All of them were blue.

She slowly stared at them as they all started to produce an estimate of how long gone she was, and she felt her heart flutter a little at the ten weeks that showed. She didn't know if she should laugh or cry, so instead she did nothing, just stayed quiet and took it in for a moment.

Eleanor slowly washed her hands and stared down, her heart thumping away as she took in the several blue tips of the sticks. A gentle knock at the door snapped her back into reality, and she twisted the tap off as she looked up and gulped.

"Nora, are you okay?" North asked gently, and she nodded mutely before she realised he couldn't see her. She felt like she was gathering herself up, trying to focus on actually telling someone that she was - in fact - going to be a mother.

"I'm fine," she said, but her voice was meek, so she cleared her voice and tried again. "I'm fine!"

"You have been in there a long time," he said, his voice sounded cheerful but full of concern, and she moved to unlock the bathroom door. The Russian was stood there smiling slightly, his eyes twinkling, and Tooth was behind him, flitting to and fro and smiling brightly. It didn't take much, but their genuine curiosity and concern made her smile, and her heart didn't feel as heavy since their happiness was catching.

"Well?" Tooth asked, clasping her hands together.

"I'm having a baby," she announced while grinning, and she was swept up into a warm hug, heard cheering, and she laughed along with them.


	60. Chapter 60

Hey, so I've been at my friends the last couple of days, hiding out in her uni room (because I'm not technically meant to be here, lol, yolo) drinking coke, eating sweets and living off Tesco cheap ass noodles. Life is good.

And we've watched films, and yesterday we went up to the farm and tended to the horses she has, and one of them has a MOUSTACHE! And he's called Frodo, so that's a win. And I'm feeling upbeat and happy :) And I realise I didn't put an A/N on the last chapter to inform you all of the things I'm doing as I generally do. My friend was just being a nosy parker so I posted it up quick, no fuss, no muss, no coconuts.

And GUYS! I brought Rise of the Guardians for her to watch with me, and she doesn't want to! I realise I'm 19 and she's 18, but so?! Post just one word at the end of a review to tell her how RotG made you feel. I need support here, she's totally trying to worm her way out of this.

So yeah, please enjoy, and review :)

* * *

It felt lonely without Nora there to keep him company, and in the last century he hadn't noticed how big the Warren actually was, because it hadn't just been him in it. Now the fields seemed to stretch farther, the woods seemed thicker and there didn't seem to be an end to this world all his own.

It crossed his mind that he might go and search the ruins of his old village, wander around and reminisce, but it seemed like too sad a thing to do. He didn't want to go and remember that lifetimes since he'd had his family ripped from him, had his world burned to the ground... not when he was right on the brink of starting anew, creating his new family with the girl he loved.

It made him chuckle. Sometimes he thought about how odd it was, him – a Pooka – falling so madly in love with a human girl. Marking her as his mate and giving her his heart. Somehow it seemed it was destiny for them to be together, right from the day when her dog attacked him and she bullied him into going home with her so she could help him, through her childhood she'd sought him out and befriended him and grown to love him despite their differences.

He didn't want to keep remembering something so sad when he had something so happy in his life right now.

Stretching out, he decided he should stop lounging in the sun and make a move, standing and cracking his joints.

"Okay... back to work," he muttered, whistling to himself as he bound through the vast Warren. It was a movement just atop one of the hills that caught his attention, and he narrowed his evergreen eyes before rocketing over there. As he reached the top of the hill, he saw Eleanor sat calmly in the long grass, her eyes half lidded and sleepy, and she was slowly scanning the entirety of the Warren, looking out over the hills and fields and forests. Her legs were crossed and her arms were resting lightly on her knees. She looked different somehow, her demeanour seemed more relaxed. He didn't know what it was, but he was glad she was back, and work could be damned for a moment. He'd not seen her in the week she'd been at Tooth's – and visiting North from what he heard too.

"Hey sweetheart," he said with a soft smile, walking over to her and sitting behind her, resting his legs either side of hers and slowly she leaned back onto him. It was as if she were being extra careful of something, and it had his fur on end. He felt like he should be expecting something.

"Hi," she said quietly, her back curving to meet his chest exactly, her head tipping back and resting on his shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you too!" the Pooka replied, feeling surprised. "What's wrong? You're not normally this... quiet."

"Should I be offended?" she asked, a small smile gracing her lips.

"No, you just normally have more energy about you," the bunny chuckled, nuzzling her shoulder, feathering kisses there.

"Hmm, I suppose so..." she mused, taking on of his hands and lacing her fingers through his. He watched her quietly as she simply held his hand, then slowly, nervously she guided it and rested it on her stomach. He felt himself take one sharp intake of breath, he felt his body go rigid and he froze entirely, waiting for her.

"You're going to be a dad," she whispered, and he laughed loudly, shifting his arms to wrap them about her, holding her close as his heart skipped along. He could have cried, but he didn't want to look like a wuss, so he planted a kiss on her cheek instead and hugged her close, rocking back and forth and it broke over him.

"I'm gonna be a dad," he muttered, grinning.

"Yep," she laughed, twisting around in his arms to face him, kissing him lightly on the nose.

"I'm gonna be a dad," he said, a little quieter, and he saw concern cross over her features.

"Aster, you're okay aren't you?" she asked, reaching up and stroking her hands over his ears, smoothing them down, before trailing her fingers back down and cupping his cheeks. "Darling, you'll be okay..."

"I am okay," he smiled, his green eyes softening as he looked into her bright golden-brown ones. "I'm just... happy."

They smiled at one another, and Aster slowly slid his hands around from her back to rest either side of her abdomen. He could imagine the little life growing inside her now, smirked a little when he considered the fact that maybe – just maybe – there could be more than one in there. Her body wasn't like a Pooka's, but perhaps some magic had happened, and they could at least have twins. He'd like more than one child to keep him busy.

He pulled Eleanor close to him, kissing her gently, nuzzling her cheek and neck, nipping ever so lightly. She let him lift her into his lap, smiling up at her with his eyes twinkling.

"You'll make a great dad, Aster," she whispered, pressing her nose against his, letting her eyes flutter closed.

"I know I will," he replied, listening to her breath a chuckle as he leaned in and kissed her deeply, his heart swelling. "But you'll make a better mum."


	61. Chapter 61

Here guys, here's a cute one for you :)

It's all Christmassy! And to be perfectly honest, I'm only buttering you all up before a slap some horror on you all in a couple of chapters.

Tell you what, if I get three reviews before midnight, I'll even give you another chapter today! So I need three reviews in the next three hours. Simple really yeah :D

And you're all getting very clever at predicting what might be happening, because I do have a lot of ideas and you're guessing them! Stop it! Or I will make you all cry :)

* * *

"North said since the family is getting bigger, he wants to start having Christmas dinners every year," Eleanor tried to explain, but Aster was having none of it.

"It'll just be another chance for him to laugh at me about how Christmas has one up on Easter again; 'you can't have Easter dinner, now can you?'" he grumbled, imitating North's Russian accent very badly.

"I just want to go and see everyone together again," she tried to explain, smiling gently as she took his hands in hers. "Look, I'm the one who's five and a half months pregnant, I'm meant to be the one moaning about everything, not you."

"Darlin', you have been moaning. It's my turn now," he huffed, rolling his vibrant green eyes. But then his expression changed a little, his shoulders slumped a bit and his eyes softened as he looked down at her. "Do I have to?" he asked, still grumbling a little, and there was a sigh in his voice.

"No, you don't have to," the Summer spirit told him, shrugging her shoulders. "I'd like you to, but I won't force you."

"You'll only gripe if I don't," he told her, and while she bit her lip and raised her eye brows at him, he smiled a little. "I'll go, but you'll have to promise to let me off with that gripe comment."

"Of course I will," Eleanor chuckled, standing on her tiptoes and kissing Aster gently on the lips. "You'll only gripe if I don't."

* * *

"Oh! I can't believe you're already five months along!" Tooth cried, swooping into the room and hugging Eleanor tightly. "I'm so excited! Do you know how many you're having?"

"I'm hoping it's just one," the younger woman laughed, rubbing her hand gently over her large bump. And it was large, even if she was over half way into her pregnancy. "But it looks like more, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but however many you have, they'll be adorable!" the fairy gushed, looking increasingly excited. Eleanor simply beamed at her, before Jack took her hand and ushered her to the dining table that had been set up for them all in the main room, the fireplace roaring away and the globe turning just beyond the arches. The Summer spirit couldn't have smiled wider. It seemed so peaceful, and she loved the fact that everybody was here. Aster had been called into the kitchen to help North carry out the dinner, while Tooth was fussing over Jack's teeth again, and Sandy floated in tot he globe room, considered the young pair for a moment, and floated off to the kitchen.

The Summer spirit took a seat, sighing as the weight was taken off her feet and she relaxed back into the chair. She watched tooth and Jack laughing together, saw the faint blush spread across Tooth's cheeks and she decided she was going to investigate when she had some time.

"Dinner is ready everybody!" came a loud, happy cry, and Eleanor turned her head to see North carrying the largest turkey into the room that she'd ever seen. Aster was behind with bowls of potatoes and vegetables in his hands, while Sandy followed up with everything else floating on clouds of golden sand, settling themselves on the table around the turkey and Aster put the last of the food where there was room for it.

"It looks delicious North," Jack said, sitting across from Eleanor. North took the head of the table, while Aster took his right side beside the Summer spirit, and Sandy took his left beside Jack. The only place left was next to Eleanor, and Tooth sat down, looking pleasantly flustered.

"Merry Christmas everybody, and here is to a happy new year," the older man said with a cheerful smile. He seemed to be in his element now, picking up the large knife to carve the turkey which he dished out to everybody bar Aster, who was vegetarian. Everybody echoed his cheer, helping themselves to roasted and mashed potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, carrots (though most seemed to find their way onto Asters' plate) and peas. The gravy boat was passed up and down the table as people needed it, yet somehow the sprouts remained untouched. The wine was poured generously to the five Guardians, while Eleanor struck to sipping at water due to her condition.

As everybody chattered with one another, Eleanor turned to Tooth and nudged her arm lightly, getting her attention.

"So tell me, what's going on between you and Jack?" she asked, raising her eyebrows and smiling.

"I- what?"

The fairy's cheeks burned red, and as Eleanor looked back at her plate, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Aster's ears had twitched sideways, and he was listening in slyly.

"You two just seem very friendly since all that with Pitch," the spirit noted, shrugging. "I was wondering if anything was going on."

"Oh, oh no," Tooth giggled, shaking her head although her blush didn't fade. "We're just good friends, that's all."

"I'm sure," Eleanor laughed, keeping her voice down before she kicked Aster under the table, and she heard him cough before his ears turned away again. Although he was still probably listening in, she hoped he'd be a bit more discreet about it. "But I could have sworn you had a little crush on him."

"Why would you, um, think that?" Tooth asked, her mauve eyes bright and wide.

"Because, I'm not oblivious of others' emotions. I see how you look at him. You have a schoolgirl crush Toothiana."

"Shh! Maybe a little, okay, but it's nothing, honestly."

Eleanor scoffed and looked pointedly at Tooth, then at Jack, who was laughing and pulling crackers with Sandy. Jack won, and there seemed to be a small flurry of snow on the table as a shining silver crown fell out, what looked like tiny snowflakes connected to one another to form a circlet. In the centre of each snowflake was a topaz stone, and Jack put it atop his head, grinning at them all. She looked then at Tooth who had been watching Jack too, and she seemed absolutely enraptured.

"Seriously? It's nothing?" the spirit asked quietly, her voice soft.

"It started as nothing. I just don't have time for anything like that, I really don't. I think just admiring him from afar will be fine for now."

"And when it's not fine any more? When it hurts to see him laughing and joking and it's not with you?" Eleanor asked.

"I don't know," Tooth shrugged. "I'll figure it out when I get there."

Eleanor simply smiled and nodded understandingly. It was kind of what she had done. She'd realised in her youth that she liked Aster as more than just a friend, saw him as more than just a Guardian and protector and she'd taken the initiative to change that. She remembered kissing him the first time, as if it were yesterday... she understood perfectly what Tooth meant by it when she said she'd wait until she had to do something, because she'd felt as if she couldn't wait any longer before she'd kissed Aster. And now she had been with him nearly all her immortal life, save a few months, and she was carrying his children.

They all pulled crackers, and it seemed that whoever won at pulling it had prized that for them perfectly. Tooth got bracelets in a mix of chains and solid hoops, gems of all colours set into the hoops while others dangled from the chains. When Sandy pulled his with Aster there was a bang and golden fireworks whizzed around their head, exploding near the roof and raining real dream sand down on them, but it seemed to evaporate before it touched them. Sandy got a crown, with one amber stone set in the midst of the gold. Eleanor reached over and pulled North's with him, smiling as a ring white as ice fell out, one large red ruby set into it.

Aster pulled his with Tooth and they both shouted out in shock as a beautiful boquet of flowers fell out and landed on the table, inches from Eleanor's food. Following the flowers came two new arm braces. They were crafted from leather, and had a variety of green, yellow and blue stones sewn into them. It was a labour of love, and Aster couldn't stop smiling as he pulled his old ones off and tried the new ones on. They fit perfectly, and he thanked North profusely before all eyes turned to Eleanor, and she looked down at her cracker.

"Want to pull it with me Jack?" she asked, offering him one end of the cracker.

"Sure," he smiled, grasping it with one hand and together they pulled it. There was a bright light, and up into the air was the best bit of magic North had done all evening; it even beat the sand fireworks. Flames licked around their hands, making Jack yelp and back away, but Eleanor held on to her end of the cracker. The fire seemed to have a life all it's own, and swirled together into what looked like a raging tornado, only for it to shoot upwards, morphing itself, forming a creature. Then the spirit recognised it for what it was, and she gasped, looking briefly to North and smiling widely at him. The bird rose into the air, fiery and fierce, spreading its wings wide. It was a phoenix, and everyone else came to realise that it curled in on itself, bursting apart, raining sparks down on them all.

There was a whoop and they all turned to North, asking him how he managed that, but the Russian simply shrugged, smiling at them all and not telling them his secrets. It was when Eleanor looked down back to her plate that she noticed the tiny glittering thing half hiding under her plate.

She furrowed her brow and picked it up, looked at it before smiling slightly to herself. It was a small pendant to match those she wore on her necklace now. She had the golden sun she'd had since Mary had given her the necklace, the silver moon Aster had given her as a birthday gift. This was a star that just looked white. White as snow, white as the clouds. It was pure white and pearly.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, looking to North and smiling. "Thank you."

"Is no problem, I was really just showing off," he laughed, waving his hand at her as he smiled, sipping some more of his wine.

They all continued their meal, and when the plates were cleaned they simply stood while the yeti came in and removed the table, bringing in the rest of the furniture. The large armchair was placed back by the fire, along with the couch. A huge soft pouffe was set between them both, while a love seat was placed on the other side of the armchair, close to the fire. It formed a sort of horseshoe shape, and they all went and took seats. Eleanor pulled Aster towards the couch, finding it far more comfortable to lie down on it with her head in Aster's lap, his arm stretched across and his fingers tracing soft patterns over her swelling tummy, her hand resting gently atop his.

Sandy took the pouffe, settling on it as if it were a large cloud itself, and he got himself comfortable. North took the armchair, which left Tooth and Jack no choice but to settle next to one another on the love seat.

Eleanor watched as Tooth curled her legs up, getting comfortable while Jack stuck his out, slumping back into the soft cushions. They seemed awkward together for a moment, Tooth looking around the room vaguely while Jack looked to Eleanor, as if asking her to do something, maybe move her legs so he could sit on the end of the couch instead of where he was. But the spirit shook her head, smirking slightly, and she nodded towards Tooth with a wink. Although he looked somewhat startled, the newest Guardian shrugged his shoulders and gingerly extended one arm out, resting it over the back of the couch while his fingers brushed Tooth's shoulder lightly.

Eleanor realised he probably wouldn't have done it had he not had a few glasses of wine, but it was innocent really, and soon the two were joining in conversations and laughing with one another instead of sitting awkwardly side by side. North was laughing and telling more of his stories from when he was young, and Sandy was clapping along happily. Aster was watching them all, joining in with his own little recollections of the stories North was talking about. Everything just seemed so... right.

"You alright love?" came a smooth voice, and she looked up to see Aster looking down at her fondly.

"I'm fine, I'm just thinking," she mused, cuddling into his soft fur.

"And what're you thinking about?" he asked, stroking her hair back out of her eyes.

"That this is the perfect family to bring a child into."


	62. Chapter 62

Hi guys! this is a nice chapter, and I'm just letting you all know that the next chapter (63) is good too, then 64 will not be nice.

So yeah, I'm just warning you all :)

Also, on a side note. I've had a lot of people talking to me, encouraging me and supporting me. I know I've given quite a bit of insight into my life, and it was mostly as a venting process since I find that writing things makes it easier on myself. I don't feel as bad when I've gotten my emotions down on paper or typed up, but I never expected anyone to actually read it. But a lot of you have, and you've done more for me than anyone else I actually have around me seems to have been able to do. So I'll give you all another insight, just so you know how I am now.

I still feel depressed, very much so. I have insomnia, anxiety and I hear voices that aren't mine in my head telling me I'm worthless. I feel angry **all** the time. I find it hard to focus on anything other than writing because it's like a therapy for myself, but that's not helping me because I'm not getting much out. I'm just writing fanfics that help me escape from my life and it doesn't help me fix the problems I have.

But on Monday I'm going to go to a doctor to see if I can get something to help me. My broken knuckle is healing nicely despite the fact that I pulled the bandages off because they were annoying and stopped me writing, and whatever other injury I've incurred I don't even feel any more, so all is well.

I'm working to make myself better again, and I don't think I'd have been able to realise I need to pick the pieces of myself back up again if it hadn't been for you guys, so thanks.

I'm not feeling awesome right now, but I should do better in the morning.

Enjoy the chapter :)

* * *

"Jack, go back to the Northern side, you're meant to be sorting Winter out!" she cried, hands on hips, glaring at the snowy haired teen.

"It's fine for ten minutes, I'm here to see you," he laughed, making sure he was out of reach from her staff, which she was prepared to swing at him if he carried on messing about. "Come on, I've not seen you in ages, Eleanor, I want to congratulate you!"

"Then say it for Christ's sake, then go do your job," she huffed, walking away from him, though still very aware that he was following her down the warm street. It was starting to grate on her nerves, and though she knew it was only her hormones acting up and she didn't really mind Jack being there, it just felt like having him nattering on to her made it a little more difficult to focus on the billion things she already had to think about.

"Do you need ice cream?" he asked quietly, finally catching up and taking her hand in his, twining their fingers together and making her slow to a stop.

"Ice cream?" she asked, cocking her head. "How will that help?"

"You're pregnant, moody and overworked. I don't know how it works, but eating ice cream just does... come on, you'll love Ben and Jerries."

"Jack, I don't want ice cream," she mumbled, but she was lying and in all honesty from the second he'd suggested it she couldn't stop thinking about vanilla ice cream.

"You're lying," Jack chuckled, looking at her with his shining blue eyes.

"I know."

They found a small ice cream parlour that was shut on the west side of town, due to the air conditioning being broken. Eleanor cooled the temperature within the room as soon as they walked in and she felt how stuffy it was, and they headed right for the freezers, looking about them nervously.

"Will we get caught?" she asked in a whisper, following him around the shop.

"No, we're invisible to adults, and even most children still don't see us," he pointed out, opening the freezer up and grabbing a large tub of cookie dough ice cream and handing it to her. "You'll like that," he muttered as he pressed it into her hands, turning back to the freezer and looking through it. "And I'll like this," he finished with a smile, grabbing hold of chocolate fudge brownie ice cream and shutting the freezer door.

They found spoons and grabbed seats in one of the booths, eating quietly in the dimly lit room. Eleanor was actually really enjoying her ice cream, smiling to herself as she spooned it into her mouth and chewed the lumps of cookie dough.

"You need to relax more, you won't help yourself otherwise," Jack said suddenly, and she looked up quickly to see his icy blue eyes focused on her. His spoon was in his mouth, and he seemed to be sucking the ice cream off it, considering her. "You're my sister, I don't want you hurting yourself or putting any stress on yourself while you're having a baby."

Eleanor shifted her arm, her hand splaying across her swelling stomach and she took in a small breath. It was January now, going into February, and she was just over six months pregnant. She'd started to show, but what worried her slightly was how rapidly she grew. It made her wonder that maybe there was more than one baby growing inside her... she didn't mind, she just didn't know how they would cope with so many kids running around their ankles. It wasn't like either of them could quit their job to focus on raising several children. One wouldn't be an issue. More than one would prove difficult.

But what got her about Jack's words was the fact that he said she was his sister. Not _like_ a sister, not _as good as_ a sister. He'd somehow, somewhere along the way crossed the line that made them go from being as good as family, to actually being family. And she wouldn't argue, because to her, Jack was her brother.

"Are you okay?" he asked out of the blue, and Eleanor started, realising tears were streaming down her face, and she brushed them away with a nervous giggle.

"Yeah, you're just making me emotional," she laughed, sniffling slightly, and Jack wasted no time in coming around the table to her and pulling her into a big hug.

"Did I say something wrong?" he asked hurriedly, and he sounded as if he were worried he'd upset her. The girl laughed, shaking her head and hugging Jack back.

"No, you made me happy, and because I'm no longer in control of my emotions I cried. I've just- you never called me your sister before. Not officially."

"Well, you kind of always have been," he mumbled, grinning sheepishly.

"And you've always been my brother!" she cried, laughing out loud as she spooned more ice cream into her mouth, and Jack returned to his seat.

"You know this means I am officially an uncle, no matter what cottontail says?"

"Obviously, as if I'd have it any other way. Aster can deal with it. I fully intend for my children to be able to snowball fight and ice skate and generally be a nuisance. And then when you babysit for us you can see what we have to put up with," Eleanor said with a small wink over to her silver haired friend.

"Charming," he scoffed, but smiled nonetheless. They finished their ice cream up and slowly made their way back outside the parlour, giggling to themselves as they discussed various names for the life growing within Eleanor, most of them being completely ridiculous.

"You'd better get up North again, or else you'll start losing control," she pointed out, and Jack nodded with a small frown on his face, as if he knew this but didn't want to leave her anyway.

"Okay, alright. Just promise me you'll stay safe?"

"I promise, Jack, but what could hurt me? Really?"

The snowy haired boy shrugged, the silver fractal frost patterns on his hoody glittering in the sunlight as he moved, and the Summer spirit found herself grinning at her Wintery counterpart.

"Just be safe," he impressed upon her again, and she nodded, saluting him mockingly before winking at him, and he was on his way again.

The spirit watching him disappear into the horizon, his figure becoming nothing more than a speck of nothing as he went, until she couldn't even make out a speck. Slowly, ever so slowly she brought her hands up and rested them on her stomach, breathing deeply and trying to ignore how it felt there was more than one in there.

"Hey babies, if you are babies and not just baby... are you okay in there?" she whispered, rubbing her fingers over her bump gently, smiling a little. She'd started getting a little uncomfortable with how she was growing, remembering how just a week ago she'd burst out crying to Aster about how she felt fat and if she couldn't cope with the weight gain then how the hell would she cope with having children, and she didn't feel like she was ready at all. And he'd held her close, shushing her and being himself between confusion and laughter.

He'd told her she was beautiful, and should stop being so daft. She'd had to agree with him, she felt like she was getting upset over nothing, and he was being such a comfort throughout all of this that she couldn't help but love him more than she ever had before. She didn't know how her heart coped, but somehow he managed to overfill her capacity for love, and there was still room to love him more.

Aster defied the laws of her emotions.

"I want to know how many of you there are," she whispered to her tummy, rubbing gentle circles over it, smiling slightly.

Then something caught her attention, and she looked up into the midday sky to see something bright, and white and dazzling. Something that shouldn't be there, but he was, and he was there to tell her something, despite not having talked to her in nearly a hundred years. With a small gasp, she felt words flow through her mind, comforting words, happy words, and with a bound she burst into the air, transporting herself back to the Warren to tell her love the good news.


	63. Chapter 63

Ignore the poetry/prose. It's just an outlet.

I feel like I'm going down  
In some deathly spiral  
Where each new drop  
Poses the question;

_'Is it still worth it?_'

And just as I come to tell myself  
That I can make it,  
That I can survive  
Another drop comes.

_'Is it still worth it?_'

and the question  
Is harder to answer each time.  
And I find myself struggling  
To find more reasons  
To keep saying yes.  
I don't know when  
the day will come  
That I am asked,

_'Is it still worth it?'_

And I answer,

_'No_.'

Enjoy the chapter guys.

* * *

Pitch was leaning against the wall for support, his body slumped over the floor as he breathed deeply through his nose, trying to find some strength.

His nightmares had dragged him down her to feed from his fear, to punish him for failing because though he was the King, they all – in their ways – had minds of their own. Just because he ruled them didn't mean they followed his every command. The French killed their royalty, and he'd taken great pleasure in feeding their fears and then drawing from the greater fears of the people back in the 1600s when Louis had been beheaded in front of his own palace. Royalty didn't always have the power.

The sweet irony, he thought with a chuckle.

Heaving himself up, he staggered, leaning heavily upon the lower wall of the bridge he slowly crossed, walking towards the hundreds of cages suspended from the ceiling by thick black chains, and he made his way to the wrought iron globe, where s golden glow emanated.

His fingers brushed over the millions of lights, a small scowl crossing his face as he clutched a pain in his side.

It wasn't the Guardians or his nightmares that had injured him so. It was more the fact that he'd gone so suddenly from having believers to being nothing more than a shadow again. When that boy Jamie had run through him, barely ten minutes after saying he did believe in him, it was like a knife had been stuck in his chest. He'd never felt a pain so raw and real, and he'd felt his only option was to run.

Fight or flight.

He'd fought already, and lost. So he could only run.

He recalled his brief conversation with Eleanor... '_making them live a nightmare won't make them believe_', she'd said.'_It'll steal their childhood away and then you won't have dreams to taint any more... they'll be grown up and you will have lost_', she'd told him. And she had been right, and he'd realised that too late. He needed the Guardians to exist to have children believe in him, or the concept of a Boogeyman, something that made children flick the lights off and sprint across the rooms to hide under their blankets would just be stupid. Why be scared of something you were too old to believe in? They needed their innocence, and he'd tried taking that away, so he'd failed from the get go.

Why was it that such a young girl had such wisdom? She seemed to know what she was doing, and what she wanted from life... she was happy, and from what he was aware she perhaps had one child who saw her now. A friend of Jamie's, and that was because she had protected the child.

"I've never seen you so depressed," came an old, croaking voice from behind him, and the Nightmare King whirled around with a scowl on his face. Old Man Winter was sat upon one of the lower walls, twirling a dagger in his fingers, looking at Pitch with an almost bemused expression.

"What are you doing here?" the darker man sneered, walking slowly towards the icy being.

"Can I not visit an old friend?" Winter asked, smirking.

"I'd never have considered us friends," Pitch muttered, watching the old man. "I never even associated with you."

"Well... I assumed we could perhaps be friends, seeing as we share a common ground," Winter said, his voice light and polite, which was oddly unsettling for Pitch. This man was like poison, he would never have normally shared a passing word with him, and was only entertaining him now because of some morbid curiosity.

"What common ground?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We are both outcasts..."

There was a small silence, and Pitch watched as the man twirled the dagger in his fingers, and recognised it as something from which he had helped create. It was ice, but it was black and glittered with the darkest sand. It was something Winter had fashioned from that tower of ice and sand he and Frost had made when they'd come to loggerheads in the Antarctic.

It looked deadly. He didn't like it one bit.

"Go on," he said quietly, urging the older man on.

"We have both been shoved out of the picture, because bigger and better people have come along. I have lost the season I ruled over, and you have lost the control you had among the populaces of the world. They no longer fear Winter for the terrors it can hold... in fact, it seems rare people feel fear nowadays."

"That's true," Pitch agreed, inclining his head slightly.

"I saw what you accomplished those months ago, in such short a space of time. And killing a guardian? Genius," he chuckled, his steely grey eyes sweeping over Pitch and he smiled a little.

"What's your point?" Pitch asked, feeling his patience thinning quickly.

"My point is, if we band together, we will both rise up again. We can't possibly be ignored, not together. I say we form a plan and strike soon, while we have opportunity."

"What are you talking about?" Pitch asked, his voice rising a little in tone and volume.

"I take Winter again, as I rightfully should, and losing Christmas as North brings and the 'fun' Frost brings, people will become more fearful again. I will have my season back, and you will have the fear you so crave."

"How do we do that? How do we take Winter from them? They won't just sit down and let you take it."

"We take Winter," the old man started, his grey eyes flashing dangerously, "by eliminating Summer."

There was a silence hang between them, so thick with tension that it made the pair want to say something just to break it. But Pitch realised what Old Man Winter was suggesting in order to gain power. And he wasn't so sure he was comfortable with it.

"Stop Eleanor?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, and it barely seemed to break through the silence that was hanging in the room.

"Kill her," Winter corrected, stowing the dagger inside his cloak slowly. "If the girl is gone then two things happen. Firstly, the Guardians crumble from within. The Pooka won't bring Spring along if he is mourning his dead partner, and the other Guardians will mourn too. They all see her as family. It will weaken their bonds. Secondly, with no Summer, there will be no need for Spring and Autumn. Why bring life into the world is it will not flourish? We will control everything with Winter and fear. We kill her, we win."

"And what makes you think I want her killed?" Pitch asked, his brow furrowed.

"I know you're fond of the girl... but because of her involvement you failed in your efforts to bring an end to the Guardians. She stopped you succeeding. And she's bested me before, you know. She may be young, but she is strong and defiant, and she won't give up easily to me, but to you... she trusts you."

"Not any more, so you've failed in that plan already," Pitch snapped, standing upright again and he started walking away. "Now leave, I'll have nothing to do with this."

"Pitch," Winter shouted, and his voice seemed dangerous, a warning to him. "With you I know I can win, and with me you'll have what you've always wanted. And you're either with me on this, or you're against me. If you stand in my way, then I won't hesitate to destroy you too."

Pitch froze, and looked back over his shoulder, where Old Man winter was stood again, looking at him with fury burning in his eyes. He felt anxiety knot in his stomach, and he sighed. He knew the man was serious. If he turned his back again now, then he would have that dagger driven through him before he could take another step.

And... perhaps his plan could work. People would fear the eternal Winter he seemed to want to bring, and with that fear he would grow stronger. As long as dreams were still around, then children would be able to cling to some of their innocence, and if Toothiana could continue collecting teeth then that little bit of magic would still be around in their lives. As long as a few Guardians remained, then children would be able to believe in him.

"I won't have anything to do with her death. I won't lead her anywhere and I won't do it," he said finally.

"Don't worry about that," Old Man Winter said quietly, smirking. "Leave it to me."

"And how are you going to go about it?" Pitch asked quietly.

"Well, that Pooka got her with child-" Winter started, but Pitch cut over, shocked.

"What?" he asked, golden eyes widening with surprise.

"Shut up and listen. She's pregnant now, and she's vulnerable. We take her soon, and we have away with her. It'll be simple really, she's awkward and won't have anyone looking after her. She's practically a sitting duck."

"It won't just be her though, if she's pregnant you'd be killing her children too," Pitch argued, although his voice was only quiet. He was feeling worse and worse about this the more he knew. He didn't want to hurt Eleanor, and more than that he didn't want to harm a life growing inside her. The Summer spirit had done a lot for him, despite their differences, and he didn't want a part in this, as much as he wanted to be believed in.

"Do you owe her a debt Pitch? Because if you can't do this then I'll destroy you now, and whatever loyalty you show will not be noticed nor cared about by that girl. It's her or you, Pitch," Winter warned. "I will kill you now if I must, and I will kill her later on. Mark my words..."

Again a silence hung between them both, and Pitch was unsure what to do. In the back of his mind, a small voice was telling him that if he agreed with Winter now then later on he could try warning Eleanor...

"When do you plan to take her?" he asked, turning and walking back to Old Man Winter.

"The end of Summer."


	64. Chapter 64

This is a happy one again :D

And I'm feeling awesome today, so we're all good!

Anyways. I wrote another oneshot yesterday. It's called 'Red Spattered The Snow' (sounds cheerful, no?) and it's focusing around Jack... so yeah, check it out if you like :) and please review!

* * *

"So, Aster, how long would Pooka pregnancies last?" Eleanor asked, going to pick up a small bundle of heather, but it was quickly snatched from her fingertips by her partner, and he shook his head slightly at her.

"Don't go picking heavy things up darlin'. I don't want you hurting yourself," Aster said quietly, before he cocked his head, actually considering her question. "I think... it's about the same as a human pregnancy. Eight or nine months."

"And... how many babies would a Pooka normally give birth to?" she turned away and stooped down to grab another small bundle of heather, clutching it to her chest so Aster couldn't take it off her, and she smirked at him as he rolled his eyes.

"Um... normally about- why?" he asked, his head snapping up and he shot her a curious look.

"I just want to know," she said, shrugging. He walked up to her slowly, her hands grasping the bundle she was clutching to her chest, and he pried it away from her, dropping it back on the ground before shifting his hands to her sides, sliding them down to her waist, resting either side of her bump.

"Can be anything between four and twelve," he said quietly, his green eyes searching her golden-brown ones. "Now tell me the truth, what's going on?"

"Well, it just so happens that I know how many babies I'm having," she whispered, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck, standing up on her tiptoes and kissing him on his nose.

"Wha- how?"

She could hear the excitement in his voice, and his green eyes flickered with anticipation. He really wanted to know how many children they were expected to have, but he was obviously trying to divert her attention away from his enthusiasm. She wasn't so easily distracted, and she smiled a little, but entertained him.

"Mani told me," she explained. "It's the first time he's actually spoken to me since I woke up back in twenty seven. Do you want to know?" the spirit asked, fingers tangling in the long fur of his shoulders.

"If you could," he said, a small smile crossing over his lips, and she felt him slide one hand around her, rubbing gentle circles over the square of her back where she tended to feel most strain.

Eleanor didn't say a word, she merely slipped one arm from behind his back and held her hand up in front of his face, four of her fingers extended, her thumb tucked in. Aster looked at her, confused for a second, his eyes then fixed on her hand and he stared for what must have been minutes. She watched as his expression went vague, and slowly his mouth dropped open into a small 'o' shape.

"You sure?" he asked, sounding a mix of both ecstatic and horrified, and it made her laugh.

"Course I'm sure," she said as she hugged him, her bump getting slightly in the way of it, but they managed, and as she buried her face in his soft, silky grey fur, he kissed her atop her head, smelling that same lavender and ash scent about her, and he smiled a little, trying to hold back his tears. He didn't know what it was about finding out he was going to be a father to four, or that the woman he loved was bringing him this new found joy, but he felt a little more complete. He felt happier. It came like a rush of emotion and he clutched her closer, nuzzling her short hair.

"Four... crikey. It's gonna be busy here soon," he chuckled, letting go of her and taking a small step back, looking at her properly. She seemed to be glowing, and he loved that about her. Despite knowing she had four little lives growing inside her now, he couldn't help but think she still didn't look that big for someone who was nearly five months into their pregnancy. She was still the most beautiful thing he'd seen, her cheeks always tinted with a rosy hue, her eyes glittering, her hair soft and wavy.

"A bit," she agreed. She went to pick up a bundle of heather again, but he moved faster, grabbing them and tucking them under his arms, smirking at her before he took her hand and they walked through the Warren together. He'd been busy the last month, making their small burrow bigger so they could have their children in there with them until they were old enough to make their own little nests. Collecting heather to pad the place out so little feet wouldn't get scraped and little heads wouldn't be bumped. He knew he was becoming overprotective already, but he didn't mind too much. These would be his. His to love, nurture, and treat. His to tell off and chastise. His to be the overprotective dad to, or to be cool when he wanted to be. Secretly sneaking them treats when they'd been naughty, just to win them around again.

"So are you staying tonight?" he asked Eleanor, looking down at her, his bright eyes meeting with hers and he cocked an eyebrow at her, and she nodded slightly. He knew she would anyway, and she knew if she'd said no he'd have protested and argued until she agreed to stay anyway. And she liked the comfort of lying next to him, stealing warmth from one another. He smiled slightly, nodding. "I made our bed again, it's softer this time, since you said the other made your back hurt."

"You didn't have to," she started, but Aster turned and shushed her, letting go of her hand and moving it up to cup her face, stroking his thumb along her cheek.

"Sunflower, I do. I have to because you're you, and you're mine, and I'd do anything to make you happy. Especially while you're carrying my children."

"So if I'd said I hated the way you made the bed ten years ago?" she asked, a small smile playing across her lips as she leaned into his hand, closing her eyes slightly.

"I'd have changed it then, if you'd wanted me to," he chuckled, and he couldn't help himself as he leaned down and kissed her sweetly. After a moment they broke apart for air, and he pressed his nose to hers.

"You're going soft in your old age, Aster," she laughed.

"It's not old age, I've just had to put up with you for too long," he shot back, and he heard her laugh a little, nudging him. "You're sending me to the nut house."

"As if you'd have it any other way!" Eleanor cried, backing away from him and continuing down the hill, and to the burrow, crossing the stream on her own, her legs engulfed by the water that lapped about her, and she climbed onto the bank at the other side and slid down the hole. Aster followed, poking his head into the burrow to see Eleanor already setting herself down on the bed, a nest of thick, fresh heather. He watched for a moment as she pulled her dress off, grimacing about how it seemed to cling to her bump, and instead she just pulled on a long shirt she'd stolen from North. It was almost like a night gown on her, but she liked how it allowed her a lot more space, and he wasn't bothered by it. Except the smell of cinnamon and spirits tended to drown out the smell of lavender he was used to.

She rubbed her belly gently, smiling down at the bump there, and the Pooka crawled out from the hole, threw the bundles of heather over to the side and joined her on the bed, pulling her close to him. She lay on her back, while he stayed on his side, his arms wrapped around her, holding her. Slowly she lifted the shirt up over her stomach, lying there in her underwear and the baggy shirt covering her bust, and she guided one of his hands to her stomach, and she held it there, staying quiet.

"Sometimes, I think I can feel them. Like maybe one of them is kicking or something," she said after a moment, and he looked at her, his green eyes soft and full of love.

"Are they?" he asked, tracing invisible patterns over her skin with his fingertips. She sighed a little, closing her eyes, and he looked at her as she whispered;

"No, not yet..."

He just watched her while she relaxed, while she wriggled around a little and made herself comfortable on the new nest he'd built for them, pulling the shirt down again to cover herself. A thought struck him, and he smiled.

"Eleanor, darlin', can I ask you something?"

She opened her eyes again, and looked up at him curiously, her lips curving up into a smile, her eyes smiling too, and she nodded.

"Will you be mine?" The Pooka asked suddenly, and her smiling mouth dropping open, and he smiled wider at her. "I mean, I know you're mine now. You always have been as good as my missus, just without the title... I was just wondering if maybe... maybe you wanted that title."

"As in marriage?" she asked quietly, and he felt her grip on his hand tighten a little bit.

"I know it's not the best way to pop the question, but yeah. Sunflower, will you marry me?"

There was a pause where the question hung in the air, and he looked down at her pretty face and held his smile, because he couldn't let go of it, because at this moment in time it was all he had to hold onto. And she was staring up at him with big eyes and soft parted lips. And slowly they curved upwards, and she was smiling back at him, and it felt like a weight was lifted from him, and when she nodded her head he could only let out a laugh and kiss her.

"Of course I will!" she exclaimed, huddling up to his side and letting him pull her as close as possible in a hug.

There were no words that needed to be said from then on in. Aster tilted her chin up to plant sweet kisses on her lips, along her jaw, his hand resting on her waist and brushing against her bump.

As they drifted off to sleep, Aster inclined his head, his nose brushing against Eleanor's forehead, and he nuzzled her slowly, and she exhaled softly as she let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding, her fingers clutching gently at his fur.

"Mine," he whispered.

"Yours," she breathed.


	65. Chapter 65

Ready to hate me? :)

I'm sure you are.

Also, please check out that oneshot I made the other day, 'red spattered the snow' and review if you can.

Anyways, I'm going to go enjoy a cigarette :) ta ta

* * *

"Aster, wake up," she whispered, nudging him. Eleanor had woken that morning with the worst feeling in the pit of her stomach. But it was nothing to do with the babies growing in her womb... it was something else, something more sinister.

It was something about the Earth. There was something terribly wrong.

"What is it sunflower?" he asked groggily, turning over half asleep and opening one eye to look up at her.

"There's something wrong," she said quickly, and that succeeded in making Aster bolt upright and grab her by the shoulders. His eyes were wide and sweeping over her, his mouth open slightly with worry. She knew she'd said the wrong thing and the way he kept glancing at her pregnant belly made her realise that she'd gotten him worried about the wrong thing.

"What's wrong? What's happened?" he asked quickly, stroking her hair back with one hand while his other found its way to her stomach, resting lightly on her bump.

"No, not with me. There's something wrong with the seasons... I mean I know Summer's ending but I feel like Tommy's come in too soon. I need to go out and sort something out."

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"No, no I don't. It'll be fine, I just need to see what's happening, and it's almost Spring on the Northern hemisphere, and that means Easter. You need it this year, we can't have a repeat of what happened last time."

They both glanced away from one another as they recalled what had happened last year when Pitch had tried taking over, and how when Easter had been ruined it had caused them to fight like they never had before. He'd really hurt her with what he'd implied about being invisible and how it meant they were worthless. Of course, not many children saw Eleanor now, she was still invisible to the majority and sometimes when she remembered what had been said she felt it sting. But it was the past now and they'd both put it behind them to move on and work on their future together. The Summer spirit was pulled out of her thought when she felt Aster tilt her chin upwards again, and he looked at her briefly, his love for her expressed in his eyes, and they both smiled.

"Are you sure?" he asked, pulling her close and kissing her gently on the lips, before leaving a trail of butterfly kisses along her jaw.

"I'll be fine sweetheart," she promised, smiling slightly at the attention he was giving her. The unease in her stomach lessened a little, simply because this kind of tenderness was something they hadn't really shown to one another since she'd become pregnant. They would kiss and cuddle, and she often fell asleep curled into him (and sometimes even on top of him), but he didn't often hold her as close as he had done before and kiss her like this. She was enjoying it too much though, and she needed to go and see what was going on.

"I need to go," she whispered, leaning back from him slightly, chuckling as he sighed and leaned his head upon her shoulder for a moment before he looked up at her and smiled gently. She leaned down and kissed him sweetly on the lips, lingering there for a second before she broke it, held onto him for just a moment longer. "I'll be back soon."

She got up from him and rested his hand upon her stomach, smiling slightly at her partner.

"You better be, we have to tell everyone else we're tying the knot," he chuckled, leaning back on his arms. She laughed a little, and beamed down at him.

"I love you Aster," she told him, and he smiled up at her.

"I love you too flower."

* * *

"Why is it so cold?" she asked herself, walking down an Australian street that seemed deserted. "It's February... it's only just Autumn here..."

Eleanor walked slowly, looking about her. It got her that at seven in the morning there was nobody around, and she felt spooked. The wind seemed to be whispering things to her, but she ignored it as her curiosity piqued. The hair on the back of her neck seemed to bristle, and she felt her stomach knotting tighter and tighter. There was something very wrong, and that's when she turned the corner and saw the small park that children played on, completely covered in frost.

What was going on?

"Jack, are you here?" she called out, wandering over to the swing set. The seats were creaking in the wind, the breeze catching them and making them swing slightly to and fro, squeaking lightly as they did. She reached out a finger and touched the metal structure of the set, and hissed as it burned her skin.

Except it wasn't burning, it was freezing to touch. She whipped her hand away and clutched it to her chest, gasping slightly in shock, her breathing becoming erratic. Slowly, tentatively she unfurled her closed hand, looking down at her fingertips.

They were black, and she hissed in pain as she moved them. Frost bite.

'_Leave_,' came a voice, but it wasn't anything like the wind. It wasn't breathy and light. It was a voice she was all too familiar with, and it scared her to think that she was hearing it again.

This was not Jack, and as realisation dawned over her she backed away, trying to figure out what to do. As she whirled around to make an escape, she hit something very solid, and very cold, and as she opened her mouth to scream for help a hand clamped over her lips, muffling her yells, while another hand tangled in her hair and wrenched her head backwards. She was forced to look up into cold, steely grey eyes that she'd come to know very well, and she trembled as his fingers slid down from her lips and wrapped around her neck. She could feel the burning, and she struggled for a moment until his grip became tighter.

'_Fight him! Don't let him take you_,' came the voice again, and she continued to struggle until she heard Winter speak, and she froze.

"I wouldn't fight my dear, we wouldn't want anything to happen to those dear babies growing inside you, would we?" he hissed, his voice deep and evil.

"Please, don't hurt me," she whispered, but he merely laughed in her face.

"Oh, we'll see," he sneered, and she felt something hard strike the back of her head.

And then it was dark, and it was cold.

And she was scared.


	66. Chapter 66

Guys! We reached over 400 reviews! You're actually all amazing :D

On another note, I genuinely hate the world. I'm watching the news and I'm hearing what's happened at Boston and I feel terrible for everyone. If anyone is out there in that area, please, please stay safe.

As for the chapter, I hope you enjoy it, please review, and check out my oneshots :)

* * *

When she awoke, she was on the bottom of a dusty, dirty metal cage, and she felt too weak to move.

As golden-brown eyes flickered open, they swept over what she could see of the room and saw hundreds of cages alike to the one she was in hanging from the ceiling from thick black chains. Wrought iron twisted around to make the bars, thick and heavy and deadly looking. Eleanor pushed herself up to sit properly, rubbing her arms and neck where Old Man Winter had grabbed her, and she gulped nervously. She could hear two people arguing below, and she crept towards the edge of the cage as slowly as she could so it didn't swing around and draw attention up to her.

"-I said I'd have no part in killing her, this was your plan! You do it."

She recognised that voice, and as her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness she peered down and saw Old Man Winter squared up to Pitch, who looked furious. She gulped, realising they must be talking about her, and part of her felt very betrayed, knowing that she and Pitch had built up some form of relationship over the time they had known one another. Although she had somewhat helped in stopping him taking over the world, shrouding it in darkness, she had still wanted to help him, and her heart broke for him when Jamie had run through him.

She knew how it felt, not having people see you, to be like a ghost to them when they ran through you. She's sympathised and had tried to help him... and now he was here plotting with Winter to have her done away with. She felt sick, but what was worse was she knew it wouldn't just be her...

"I've told you once, I'll tell you again. You either do as I say or I will end you along with her!"

She watched as Pitch's golden eyes narrowed, and she gulped nervously, wondering if he would fight Winter, or if he would just do as he was told.

"I don't want to hurt her! I didn't even want you to bring her here. You should have done it on your own turf," Pitch argued back angrily, and Eleanor felt both hope and anxiety build up within her. She wanted Pitch to fight back for her, but she didn't want him to get hurt because of that.

"Then do it in your own time," Winter chuckled, backing away from Pitch slightly, and from the position Eleanor was in she could see the smirk on his face, just about. "Maybe we can watch the Guardians scramble to find her... but then you kill her."

With that he was just gone. He seemed to melt into the air, and she swallowed a lump in her throat in an effort not to cry. She should have run when Pitch had told her to. He had somehow gotten into her mind and warned her, but she'd been too afraid to make an escape. She felt stupid now, and even more so when she remembered that Aster had offered to accompany her to where she was going, and if she'd only said yes she wouldn't be in this situation.

She watched quietly as Pitch sighed to himself, paced back and forth for a small while, and then looked up at her cage. Their eyes met, and she felt herself shudder as fear crept up her spine. He watched her for a moment, before he shook his head and walked away.

And Eleanor was alone again, looking out at the place she was being held captive. It was a cavern or sorts, grey and black stones built up along the walls, arches and bridges and stairways twisting around and merging, slanted as they crossed from one side of the room to the other.

This must be where Pitch lived... and she felt her heart sink a little as she realised this was where he had been dragged down when they had defeated him. It was a horrible thought, and she felt terrible for him when she thought about him being all alone here.

But her main issue was the fact that she was here now, and she didn't know how to escape... she felt too weak to transport herself out, and she didn't know if there was some darker magic on the cage that stopped her from doing so.

Instead, the girl leaned back in the cage, pushing her weight so it swung slightly to and fro, and the gentle motion rocked her. With her arms held protectively over her stomach, and she let herself go to sleep because there was nothing else for her to do.

* * *

It was strange that she hadn't come back yet, and Aster felt himself itching the longer he thought about it. She'd said something wasn't right, and she could just feel it, but he didn't know where she'd gone to find her. He felt very unsettled, and in the pit of his stomach he wondered if he should have insisted upon going with her even though she'd said no to him.

Looking about the Warren though, he remembered that he needed to go and see about Spring coming in, which would mean he needed to go out and find Jack, and talk to him about easing the season in as they normally did. A few daffodils here, daisy patched jumping up there. Melting the snow away and such. Opening one of his tunnels before him, the Pooka jumped down and raced to Burgess, where he knew Jack generally hung out. He wasn't overly fond of the small colloquial town, mostly because that's where the showdown with Pitch had been, but it was home to the teen and it wasn't the worst place to be.

When he jumped out on the other side, he wondered if he'd gone too far North. The snow was feet deep, whereas here it usually only got to a couple inches, and as he looked around his eyes widened. It wasn't as if Spring was about to come in at all, it was more like Winter was in full swing, and Aster could feel anger swelling up in him. He knew it would only be a matter of time until the little git pulled another stunt like this, and he pressed through the drifts of snow to the small pond Jack claimed as his home.

"Oi! Frost!" he cried, running faster, ignoring how his feet were numbing. "Where are you, you little prick?"

"Bunny!" he heard someone yell from behind him, and Aster whirled around glaring at the teen who sprinted towards him. "Bunny, what's wrong?"

"Oh, gosh, I dunno, maybe it's the fact that it's still bloody snowing!"

He watched as Jack's bright blue eyes widened as he heard the anger in Aster's voice. He stopped approaching the Pooka, and shifted slightly on the spot, looking about him, biting his lip.

"You're a Guardian now mate, you're meant to be more responsible than this," he cried, gesturing about.

"Bunny, I didn't do this!" he argued, his brow furrowing.

"Right, cos if you didn't who did?" the Pooka scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest and rolling his eyes.

There was a moment of silence pass between the two, then at the same time it seemed to click in their minds who was capable of causing such trouble, in the Winter season, who they had somehow lost track of.

"Shit," Aster muttered, his heart pounding in his chest as his thoughts flickered to his partner who had left that morning and had not come home yet.

"You think this is Old Man Winter?" Jack asked quietly, but the longer he watched his fellow Guardian, the more he became aware of the panic crossing the Pooka's face. "Bunny... what's happened?"

"She- Eleanor, she went out this morning saying something felt wrong... I haven't seen her since."

Green eyes met icy blue, and a shared worry was expressed. Aster wasted no time in opening another tunnel, aiming to go up to The Pole and see North to see what he said, but before he could jump down Jack had dived first, so Aster followed, racing to catch up to the teen who used his staff as a skate of sorts. They both surfaced outside the Pole and ran in through an open door to the workshop.

"North!" Aster cried, running through the corridors while Jack soared alongside him. "North!"

"Bunny! What is problem?" North asked, concern crossing over his face as he saw the two breathless Guardians hurtling into the main room, stumbling over each other as they tried to explain what they had come to conclude. "One at a time, gentlemen, please!"

Jack looked to Bunny, and the older of the two nodded.

"North, something's happened to Eleanor," the Pooka explained, gulping as tears stung his eyes. Jack saw he was visibly upset and reached out, patting him on the back.

"She'll be okay," he said, trying to put his mind at ease. "She knows how to take care of herself..."

"North, I think Winter has her," he choked. "And I don't know what to do."


	67. Chapter 67

Hey guys, another chapter for you to enjoy (hopefully)

I can only promise that for hereon in it will get a lot more sad and you'll all be terribly upset with me :) nernernernerner.

And I've already planned the ending. We have roughly 15 more chapters to go before this all ENDS.

Ermagurd. How we feeling about this?

* * *

"I never thought you'd stoop this low," she muttered, her voice hushed, barely a whisper as it escaped her. Her golden-brown eyes tracked up slowly and met with Pitch's bright gold ones, and she tried to read the emotions there, but he was hiding them well.

"You don't know me, I don't even know how you'd come to that assumption," he replied dryly, placing a large glass of water down steadily on the cage floor, along with a plateful of food. It was only a few sandwiches, but she was glad of it.

"You've never posed a threat to me, not really... we used to talk a lot."

"That was before you became so involved with the rabbit," he snapped, and she pierced him with an intense gaze.

"Pitch, I've always been involved with Aster... all my life. We just used to be able to... talk. I don't know, you understood me."

"I understood your fears, I knew them. And fear is the majority of what you feel. It always has been."

"It isn't though... I feel love, and happiness, and sadness, and everything else in between and beyond. It's you who feels scared, and I don't understand why. You're capable of more than this," she pressed, sitting up a little straighter as she reached for the sandwich. "Now tell me, and be honest... is this poisoned?"

He looked at her, as if he were considering her question and the implications behind it. She was asking him, basically, if he were trying to kill her. If he was following orders as he had been told to and getting rid of her so Winter could follow through with whatever sick plan he had. If the start of it involved the murder of a pregnant woman, then it couldn't be good. She was asking him if he would become a murderer for his own benefit.

"No," he said finally, his gaze dropping. "No, they're not."

"Will they be next time?" she asked, scowling as she bit into the bread. She was extremely hungry and didn't want to starve herself for the sake of her babies. She knew it wasn't poisoned, she could tell he was being honest.

"I don't know," he said after a pause.

"I thought I could trust you, Pitch." Eleanor said loudly, her voice reverberating around the cavernous room, bouncing from the walls, the hurt and anger prominent. "Even after everything you've done, I thought I could trust you..."

"Eleanor, if there is one thing I have learned about this world, it is that you can never depend on anyone other than yourself," Pitch said slowly, shutting the door to the cage again, his hands resting against the bars before he made himself look up again at the girl he'd imprisoned. "Even your shadow leaves you when you're in darkness."

She tisked and rolled her eyes at him, shaking her head slightly, and most absurdly a small smile crept up on her lips.

"Pitch, you may never have had anyone to depend on, but I do. I have my family... and if you were different then someone would accept you. You'd have a family too. In darkness your shadow doesn't leave. It envelopes you. It keeps you safe."

The pair of them watched one another, and Pitch growled something low in his throat, his brow furrowing angrily as he melted into the shadows around him, and she looked out from her cage to where he was stood below. He was trembling, and she didn't know if it was from anger, or something else.

"Don't pity me!" he shouted suddenly, whipping around and glaring up at her, his expression one of deep fury. "Don't you ever pity me! It is people like you who sent me here, people who believe there is more to the world than fear! Well how about I show you how all your positivity is outlined with fear. You love Aster? Yet sometimes you find yourself worrying if the fact you're human ever bugs him. If he'd not prefer it if he could have a Pooka mate like he would have done if there were more like him. You worry he'll do exactly the same as he did with you. If he'll protect a child and watch her grow and fall for her harder than he ever fell for you."

The brunette gaped, kneeling up on the floor of her cage whilst staring down at the man who was screaming her own fears at her, things she'd never realised she'd worried about before, but they all sounded familiar, and she felt tears pricking her eyes.

"You're pregnant now, but since the start you wondered how your body would handle it. If it would be too much strain and stress. How, as a spirit who is greatly occupied for half the year, you will raise them. You're wondering all the while you're here if you'll even be able to get to that point, because everything you eat or drink you think is laced with something, and each time you sleep you wonder if you're even going to wake up."

"Stop it," she whispered, a loan tear streaking down her face. But he continued.

"You're always scared you're going to mess something up, that you'll make a fool of yourself and make an arse of something so crucial that it turns the Guardians away from you. Because let's face it sweetheart, even Jack is a Guardian now, and if you do something that they have to fix, they're not going to be too pleased with you. They're your family now, but it always plays in the back of your mind how easily they all turned on Jack. They could do the same to you."

"Stop it!" she screamed at him, "You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Don't I? If there's one thing I do know, it's fear. People's deepest, darkest fears," he sneered, and she felt sick looking at him.

"They would never leave me," she shouted angrily, wondering why she couldn't – for just one second – throw something at him.

"We are but fickle things, Eleanor. If they cared so much, why aren't they here now?"

"Because, you idiot, they don't know I'm here!" she cried, feeling irate and hormonal. Tears were flowing freely down her face now, and her hands had wrapped around the bars.

They stared hard at one another, and Pitch sighed. In the blink of an eye he had vanished from below, and when she blinked again he was there in front of the cage, floating on a cloud of black sand.

"They won't find you in time, Eleanor. I'm sorry," he said quietly, and his eyes were soft and sad. "He'll kill you before they get here."

She was mildly surprised to find that he cared. The way he was looking at her, the guilt she could read in his eyes, she didn't know what to think about it. She just felt sad, and scared.

"He can kill me, Pitch," she said quietly, finally. "But it won't achieve anything."

"It will make people feel fear... I told you a long time ago that you cannot kill fear."

"But he will, won't he? Winter will? Because he will eventually kill you, and when you're gone... there won't be fear. There'll be nothing. Not happiness, joy or wonder. Not even sadness and fear. And then it'll all be pointless."


	68. Chapter 68

Here.

* * *

Aster ran through the woods, screaming her name as he went. His nostrils flared as he tried to pick up any scent of her. Burning lavender and ash, warm but sweet. But there was nothing; no scent, no trace, not a hair of her. His fast run slowed, and soon he found himself stood still on the edge of the wood. He looked out, down the hill, where a suburban street was, and he chocked slightly as memories flooded him.

Although the street below him had changed considerably since he'd last come here, he couldn't help but think of the little girl with long brown hair and big chocolate eyes that had helped him and bandaged him up after her dog had attacked him. He couldn't help thinking about all the times all those years ago he'd sneaked away from his duties for an hour or so to sit with the child who loved him reading her bedtime stories. The girl who grew and blossomed before his eyes, became more beautiful and caring by the day. Who had the most terrible moods sometimes and would argue with him, who put everyone else before herself and never complained, and because of that he made sure to treat her. He recalled sneaking up into her room in the middle of the night, rousing her from her sleep to take her away somewhere for an 'adventure' as she called it.

He thought about how she'd mumble in her sleep and swat at him, thinking he was her brother, until her eyes opened groggily and when she saw it was him they would glitter and sparkle, and she would be filled so suddenly with such energy that it took him by surprise. He thought about their first kiss, and how she took him by surprise, and he thought about how his life had changed so much when she died. How he realised how much he really loved her, and missed her, and how when he got her back ten years later he couldn't have been happier.

He thought about how he missed her now, and he remembered how broken he had felt after she died all those years ago, without knowing how much he truly loved her... and how could he cope if he lost her again? After getting to know her, falling harder for her, marking her, exploring her in every conceivable way and loving her in more ways than anyone ever had or ever would. If anything happened to her, if she was hurt in any way or worse... if she was killed. Aster knew a part of him would die too.

And his children. Four of their babies, unborn and innocent, could be killed too if it all came to the worst... and that thought alone broke his heart, and slowly the Pooka crouched back on his back legs, and wrapped his arms around himself, and sat there for a moment.

Below him was the street Eleanor had grown up on, and he had hoped that after checking everywhere else he thought she could possibly be that she might be here. That she might have slipped out of Winter's grasp if he'd found her first, and she'd come here to escape. But it had been two weeks, and he hadn't found her, and he knew she'd been taken by that bastard.

Her house had been rebuilt... it was different to every other house on the street, and he didn't like it.

Sighing, the rabbit shook his head and stood upright, casting one last look out to the street, and turning to look behind him at the woods where it had all started.

"I'll find you sunflower..." he promised, whispering to the wind. Part of him was still hoping he didn't have to find her. The rest was just hoping that the wind would carry that promise to her, wherever she might be.

* * *

Eleanor felt her eyes flicker open of their own accord, and slowly she looked about the cavern. She could have sworn she heard a whisper... but there was nothing there, nobody who could offer a kind word, so she sighed and leaned back against the bars.

At seven and a half months pregnant, she didn't need this shit, and she was fully prepared to tell Pitch that as soon as he got his scrawny little backside back here.

She knew she was in one of her hormonal rages right now, and she wanted someone to take it out on. Normally she'd have a moan to Aster about it, and she'd bury her face in his fur and he'd stroke her hair back and rub small circles into the small of her back, right where she felt the most strain, and suddenly it would be gone. She wanted to be back with him right now, curled up in his lap.

Safe.

She heard the door to the cage open and snapped out of her train of though, sniffing slightly and looking up at the person there. It was only Pitch, and she scowled at him as he set a plateful of food down on the cage floor but watched curiously as he slowly lowered himself and sat just in the doorway of the cage. A silence passed between them, and she looked down at the food then back up so her bright eyes met his.

"Is that going to kill me?" she asked quietly, nudging the plate slightly with her foot, while her arms crossed protectively over her stomach.

"No," he said quietly, staying focused on her. She found it a little unsettling, and squirmed slightly, before he nodded to her.

"Give me your necklace," he told her, and she blinked slightly at him before one of her hands slowly found the gold chain around her neck and she clutched at her pendants. She could feel the sharp edges of the sun, moon and the star digging into her palm, and she gulped slightly, wondering what he could want it for.

"Why?" she asked, her voice hushed, and she ignored how the air seemed to chill.

"Just do as I'm telling you, now," he said, his voice a little more urgent, and the temperature dropped again, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up on end. She nodded slightly, reaching up and unfastening the clasp on the necklace before she held it out, the metal slipping through her fingers like a ribbon, curling in his palm before he closed his fist around it.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, gulping and blinking at him, shifting a little closer to him.

"Just trust me," he told her, and he stepped out of the cage, closing the door behind him and bolting it shut.

"Trust you?" came a cold, snide voice, and Eleanor realised why everything had gone so cold around her, and she found herself cowering back in the cage slightly. "You want her to trust you, a man who hides in shadows and has kept her imprisoned for the last two weeks? Why would she trust you?"

Winter cackled from wherever he was, and Eleanor looked sharply to Pitch, wondering how exposed he was, how in danger he was... he merely looked at her solemnly and nodded slightly, and somehow she found she could trust him, that his bright golden eyes expressed such honesty she never knew he had, and for a second something within him changed and he looked stronger.

Something in him was glowing, and she stared at him in wonder until he melted into the shadows, and she went to the edge of the cage, looking down.

Pitch had reappeared down below, facing Winter, glaring daggers at him. The older men both looked as if they could murder one another, and the Summer spirit tensed as she watched them both, her body tense and rigid as they stared one another down.

"This is enough Winter, this plan of yours won't work, and I certainly won't aid you any more," Pitch said slowly, but his voice was louder than Eleanor had heard it before, more powerful, and she felt hopeful. Winter merely glared, his steely grey eyes narrowed to slits, his normally hunched body standing tall and upright again, and Eleanor saw how he'd already become more powerful in the last fortnight, and it scared her.

"You foolish, foolish man," he said in a drawl that just about carried up to her, and then there was a flash of movement, and Eleanor watched as Winter lashed out at Pitch, and the other man barely had time to dodge before another attack was being pressed down on him. He drew his sand around him in a large arc and smashed it down on Winter, battering him from all sides, each wave of the glittering black substance sharp and edged and extremely dangerous. And when she though he'd somehow got the upper hand, she was proved wrong.

The sand had frozen as it came into contact with Winter, and she watched in horror as it exploded away from him in a barrage of frozen bullets, and she shrieked before hurling herself at the floor of the cage and covering her head to avoid being hit. Slowly she peeked above the bottom of the cage and looked to where Pitch had managed to stop them hitting him, but he was being beaten back again by Winter, being forced into a corner, and his expression was one of a man who was panicking.

And she saw a flash of something smooth, and black, and terrible... and she watched as Winter plunged a dagger into Pitch Black's midriff, and she screamed out for him.

His golden eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, and his face conveyed shock, and horror. Winter was holding him close, one hand on the Nightmare King's shoulder, holding him steady, the other still firmly on the hilt of the dagger. And when Eleanor didn't think it could get worse, with a sharp jolt Winter had jerks the knife and sliced it upwards, cutting Pitch's stomach open before slowly, laboriously, drawing it from him again and savouring every second of prolonged pain, enjoying the excruciating look on Pitch's face as he removed the blade, before he dropped the Nightmare King to the floor, and turned his gaze up to Eleanor.

She pressed herself back into the cage, begging silently for something to save her, for Aster to come charging in to beat the living daylights out of this evil, demonic man. Then he spoke, and his words chilled her to the bone, and she felt a lone tear streak down her face.

"You next."


	69. Chapter 69

Hey guys, so you may or may not hate me next chapter... but you'll hate me. Things might be ending sooner that I thought, we definitely won't get past 80 chapters, and I might have a mob of you finding me and such. Meh, be good to meet you guys in person :D

Sooo... yeah. Try not to rage on your keyboards too hard.

And check out my other RotG oneshots... I'm open to ideas for Jackrabbit oneshots, so send me an idea in a PM, and if I think I can do it I'll let you know and then post it (with dedications to you for the idea of course).

Other than that... revelation time.

**We're nearly at the end... of The End Of Summer.**

* * *

"North, I've looked everywhere and it's been two weeks!" Aster cried, his hand curling up into a fist in his anger and frustration, and his fist flew out, connecting with the wooden beam beside him and sending a resounding crack around the room. He didn't feel any pain, and when he dropped his arm it was clear that the wood had splintered under the force of his punch, and his hand – although stinging slightly – was unbroken.

"Bunny, we need to be patient," the older man started, but he stopped when the Pooka threw him a contemptuous look, and he shut his mouth quickly.

"Patient? Mate, she's been taken by a bloke that wants her dead – he's tried to kill her before – she's pregnant and... and alone..."

"Bunny, we'll find her," Tooth said gently, resting her hand upon his shoulder, and when he didn't shrug her off or move away she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. "I promise we'll find her."

"What if we're too late Tooth?" he asked in a hushed voice, as if he were scared of saying it too loud in case it came true. "What if we do find her, but she's already gone?"

"It won't come to that, but North is right. We need to be patient, we need to carry on until we have an idea where she could be. I know it'll be hard, but if we don't focus then Winter will carry on freezing the Northern hemisphere. We need Spring Bunny, and you need to carry on as usual."

Her words sounded harsh, but they were right. And although his heart ached Aster found himself nodding in agreement, blinking away tears that filled his evergreen eyes. He didn't want the others to see him in such a state, and they'd only seen him so bad twice before. The first time was when his village had been destroyed and all the other Pooka killed. The second time wasn't even a century ago, when he'd watched Eleanor die and hadn't done anything about it. It felt like history was repeating itself, and he felt useless.

Toothiana watched as her fellow Guardian tried forcing back the tears, repressing the need to express himself over this crisis. She knew that deep down their Bunny was loving. He cared about what he did and he cared about everyone around him, although he had a tough time showing it. He always put on a tough exterior, but she knew how gentle he was around Eleanor, and she knew he still made the odd visit to see Sophie after she'd managed to get into the Warren last year (but he always went on days when Jack wouldn't be there. He respected the teen and has something of a brotherly bond with him, but they teased one another something rotten sometimes, and chaos would ensue).

"North, come and show me where you think Eleanor was taken," she told the Russian, and he looked a little confused because they'd gone over it a hundred times, but when she widened her eyes at him and shot a sideways glance to Bunny who was hanging his head, shoulders slumped, and looking very depressed, North seemed to get it.

"Okay, through there," he said, gesturing through to a side room that had been designated to this case. Tooth embraced Aster once more and whizzed off, and while North was passing he patted him on the shoulder in an understanding kind of way. Sandy followed silently, unsure of what he could do to try and help his friend who was in such desperate need of comfort.

The only one who didn't leave the room was Jack, who had been sat quietly in Eleanor's favourite chair by the fire, curled up and clutching his staff close to him. His icy blue eyes seemed to glow amber in the reflection from the fire, and he was being unnaturally quiet. Aster approached and sat himself down on the chair opposite, his eyes flickering from the crackling fire that reminded him so much of the woman he was looking for, to the boy sat across from him who seemed to be doing the same.

"What're you thinking?" he asked after a moment's silence.

"That I should have been there with her," Jack muttered, huffing slightly and blowing loose strands of his snowy white hair from his face. Aster snorted, and Jack looked over at him.

"I'm meant to protect her, I should have been there..." he said quietly, his evergreen eyes casting sideways glances over to the fire that was burning away. "She's mine to look after."

"She's my sister, Bunny. I should have checked in on her more," Jack argued bitterly.

"She told me something was wrong, and I said I'd go with her but she told me not to bother... and I was half asleep, so I said alright. I'm such an idiot!" Aster cried, dragging his fingers through his fur, seething silently. "And everything is meant to be happy right now, we're meant to be getting ready to have kids and..."

He trailed off. Aster hadn't actually told anyone that he had asked Eleanor to marry him after so long of being together. It was what would have made everything perfect, and they'd have been a whole, real family. Now he didn't know what was going on, and deep in his gut he could feel himself already preparing for the worst.

"And what?" Jack asked quietly, sitting up a little straighter, looking over at the Pooka with a mix of curiosity and concern written across his face.

"And I- I had asked her to be missus Bunnymund," Aster said quietly, slowly, and he looked up to the youngest Guardian whose eyes held such sadness, and in a second he'd got up and walked over to Aster, and awkwardly pulled him into a hug.

"We'll find her Bunny," he promised. "We'll find her, and everything will be okay."

Aster sat there for a moment, wrapping his head around the fact that Jack was – for once – not being a prat with him, and slowly he raised one arm and wrapped it around Jack's shoulders and let him comfort him. Jack pulled away after a moment and grinned awkwardly, and Aster found himself smiling despite himself.

"I'd better get on and start bringing Spring in. I'm already late and I can't give that tosser any more of an advantage," he grumbled, shrugging his shoulders slightly as he started to the door. He saw Tooth, North and Sandy watching him from the corner of his eye, but he ignored them and continued walking through to the main room, intent on getting a bit of distance before he opened a tunnel in case one of them decided to follow him. He just wanted to be alone right now. It was as he was passing under an archway through to the main globe room did he notice something else move in the corner of his eye, and he turned just in time to see the figure of a tall man lurch out at him. Before he could react, he felt them collide, and Aster stumbled a little as he struggled to keep hold of them, panicking slightly and wondering who the hell it was.

It took all but a moment, and he recognised the black cloak and the slicked back hair, and the bright eyes. In shock he pushed Pitch away from him, only to gape at the searing wound in his side that was leaking blood everywhere.

"The hell?!" Jack exclaimed, and in seconds all the Guardians had surrounded the Nightmare King, although none of them did anything to intimidate the injured man, instead they watched on with concern. Tooth was the first to move forward and crouch by his side, her hands reaching out tentatively before she touched the wound. Ignoring how his blood coating her fingers, she pressed harder against it, applying pressure she knew would stem the blood flow.

It was scary... it took a lot to harm immortal beings such as themselves... but this gash in Pitch's side indicated something extremely deadly and powerful had been created, and it only made Aster's hopes to find Eleanor safe and well diminish a little more.

"H-here," he gasped, his golden eyes scrunching up in pain as her raised his arm out to the Pooka, and slowly Aster moved forward and extended his own arm, hand out, palm up, ready for what Pitch was giving him.

And he felt something slither into his hand, and then something sharper dug into his palm, and he pulled his hand away thinking it was a trick to hurt him too. But when he looked down at the thing in his hand, he felt sick.

"Where did you get this?" he asked hoarsely, looking at the necklace.

"Winter is keeping Eleanor in my hideout, because it- it's underground a-and you can't find it... not without help," Pitch hissed through gritted teeth.

"Why didn't you come sooner?" Jack asked, his bright blue eyes wide and worried.

"If I-I'd done anything sooner he... he would have killed Eleanor long ago. I've managed to keep... to keep her fed and alive. But he- Winter, he's going to kill her now. I-I tried to fight him but he has a-a dagger."

"I need to get to her, please struth tell me how to get there," Aster begged, moving forward and clutching the Nightmare King's hand, his evergreen eyes imploring the golden ones.

"The nightmares will take you, follow them," Pitch whispered in reply, before his golden eyes fluttered shut, the pain becoming too much to bare, and he fell unconscious. North roared to the yeti surrounding them to take him to the hospital wing and help him, keep him alive at any cost, and they surged forward, one of them scooping him up while a few of the others rushed on ahead to prepare everything.

"The nightmares?" Tooth asked in a whisper, looking to them all.

"Follow the nightmares?" Jack echoed, and Aster looked to them all, before something behind them caught his eye.

Before the roaring fire stood five great stallions made of black sand. He wasn't sure what he had to do, wasn't even sure if it would work, but he approached one, the one in the middle, and looked up into it's burning yellow eyes. It snorted at him, and he held his breath as slowly he reached out to touch it's nose.

And he felt the sand surge forward, enveloping him, consuming him, and everything went in a rush. It was pulling him. Down, down, down... and just as he thought he'd not breath again, just as he thought he were going to suffocate, he opened his eyes to find the nightmare gone, and he was staring into a large, black room.

Then the others were with him, each looking a little nauseated, casting nervous sideways glances at one another.

Then they heard screaming.


	70. Chapter 70

Hey guys, we're closing in on the end. I think I have maybe one more chapter to write :/

Please review!

* * *

She'd managed to escape his grasp and had gotten as far away from him as she possibly could before hiding behind a low arch, out of sight. Eleanor felt her heart pounding against her chest as she tried to calm her breathing. She only had to avoid him for a small while... she'd watched in mild surprise from her cage as Pitch had raised his head from the floor and looked right at her before forcing a smile and rolling himself into the shadows, melting into them and disappearing. The spirit was well aware he knew how to get into the Pole when he wanted to, he'd done it before so he could damn well do it again.. She worried about him though, what with Winter hurting him like he did. She did wonder if he'd even manage to get to the Pole.

But Eleanor was more worried about what the old spirit would do to her in all honesty, and the young woman found herself fearing not only for her own life, but her children's lives too. He seemed intent on driving that dagger into her body, destroying her.

The whole place seemed deathly quiet, and Eleanor took that opportunity to poke her head out from her hiding place to see if she could get further away, but at that exact moment she felt a hand tangle in her hair and she was ripped out from her safe spot, and dragged to her feet.

"I take it you were never too good at hide and seek," Winter chuckled. Eleanor felt her breathing hitch and tears pooled to her eyes as pain and fear mixed together.

"Please, don't do this," she moaned, her arms wrapping protectively around her stomach as she tried her hardest to shield the lives growing inside her. "Please, I'm pregnant," she choked, and she hated herself for showing weakness like this, but he'd disregarded her health before now and she had no doubt he would continue to do so. If she could just persuade him to keep her alive until she'd had her children she'd die happier, just knowing they were safe, and Aster would raise them with the other Guardians helping. If she could just live a little longer, just one month. She could make her peace with the idea properly, if she had a little more time to make sure her children survived.

"You really think begging will stop my, my dear?" Winter asked, his voice snide and dripping with hatred.

"Just please, wait for me to give birth, please," she begged, her voice low, whimpering.

"Do you think I've ever hesitated over killing a pregnant woman before?" he sneered, and she gulped slightly, shifting slightly to loosen the evil being's grip on her hair, but his fingers were laced in tightly and he wasn't going to let go. She watched in fright as he raised up his other hand, and she saw the glittering black dagger he was holding. It was a mix of black sand and ice, and it looked lethal... she braced herself, and his eyes swept over her as if he were considering where he should strike. Eleanor felt her body go numb, as if her senses had shut down early to cause as little pain as possible when the end did come, but while her body numbed itself ready to die, her mind went into overtime. Her thoughts flickered to her children, who would never take their firsts breaths in the world. She would never be able to hold them and cradle their tiny bodies close to her, watch them grow and learn and play, hear their first words, watch them take their first steps. And she thought of Aster, and how she'd not hear his voice again, and not feel him pulling her closer in the night to cuddle her, and how she wouldn't get to kiss him one last time... wouldn't be able to tell him how much she loved him. She wouldn't be able to tell him how much he'd always meant to her, and how she'd loved him all her life and was glad he was the being she chose to spend her days with... tears threatened to spill over as images of his emerald eyes and wonderful smile crossed through her mind, and the way she could hear his heart thumping away at night as she lay with her head on his chest, and it was perfect. It had all been perfect.

Before he could stab the dagger into her however, there was a deafening cry.

"Get your stinking mits off her, you bastard!"

Steely grey eyes and bright golden-brown eyes flickered to look at where the voice had come from, and the Summer spirit felt elated to see Aster stood there, his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, and his fur stuck out on end. She'd never in her life seen him look so irate, but she could care less because he was here, and he was going to rescue her.

"Ah, the cavalry has finally arrived," Winter laughed, and suddenly Eleanor felt herself being wrenched around, and there was something sharp pressed against her throat. "Just in time to see me spill her blood everywhere, isn't that lovely?"

"You let her alone!" Aster shouted, and he seemed intent on rushing forward and beating the living daylights out of Old Man Winter, but North grabbed him and held him back. It was obvious that if they took another step towards them then she'd have her throat slit, and while she wanted to gulp down air as if she would never breath again – which Eleanor was aware might happen – the spirit help back, because every time she shifted slightly her neck was cut into a little more, and she didn't want it to cut so deep that she'd bleed out. A scratch she could handle, but having her jugular opened wasn't something she'd be able to brush off.

"You think shouting at me will help any? And do you really think you have a cat in hell's chance of stopping me? I'm too powerful! There's not going to be Easter again this year since your efforts have been wasted on finding this girl-" at this Winter shook Eleanor slightly by her hair, and she cried out in pain. "- you're going to lose this time. I swear by it. I will take Winter back by force, and you will all suffer for ever having pushed me out in the first place."

The Guardians stared at Old Man Winter as his voice rose in volume and pitch, his screaming seemed almost delirious, something maniacal and it was obvious that in his years of solitude he'd gone insane. This thirst for power was driven by insanity, and if they couldn't stop him now and find a way to sate him then there would be more deaths than just Eleanor's and her children.

"Winter, listen, please l-listen to me," the Summer spirit gasped as she addressed the evil man, but her eyes stayed glued on Aster's, and she tried to express to him just how much he'd always meant to her with her look, but he stared back with a look of terror – too afraid for her welfare to see anything other than the knife held at her throat. "You can kill me, but please wait until I've given birth. I know you don't care for loss of life, but please... as my final wish, please..."

"Sunflower, no," her Pooka choked, and he went to move forward to her, his eyes brimming with tears, but Tooth grabbed his arm as well as North holding him back, and Eleanor shook her head at him.

"It's the only chance they have," she whispered, more to Aster than Winter, but she knew the elderly man was listening and he huffed to himself.

"It really does touch me how much you care for these unborn brats..." he started, and she felt her heart leap with hope. "But why would I want any more of your kind in the world?"

"They won't be like me!" she cried, her heart dropping again suddenly and so quickly it felt as though it ripped from her chest. "They'll be Pooka, and they won't have anything to do with seasons because Aster and I already have those duties filled, I just want them to live!"

The whole group watched in shock as Winter paused before slowly moving the dagger away from her neck, and she breathed deeply feeling a little relieved. She thought to herself that she managed to buy herself some time, and the girl let her eyes flicker towards her lover, whose bright green eyes stared back. Then she heard Winter talking again, and his words were like ice, chilling her to the bone.

"I suppose birthing them should be easy enough..." he started, and Eleanor focused quickly on his hand, where he was twisting his long white fingers around the dagger to hold it differently. "Especially with a caesarian."

There was a scream of horror rip from Aster's throat as he wrenched himself from the other Guardians' grasp, and Eleanor was too focused on him charging towards her that for a moment she didn't feel the incredible pain in her abdomen. Then it hit her like a brick wall, her body trembled as a ice cold pain burned and seeped through her body and with a shuddering gasp she felt herself buckle at the knees, her body dropping to the floor. Winter stood over her laughing for a second before Aster barrelled into him, his fist flying back before he forced it forward and it connected with Winter's jaw, a sickening crack resounding around the room.

Eleanor crumpled on the floor, her hand pressed into her side where the dagger was still forced into her, right up to the hilt. Her head was spinning and she felt ill, but her muscles were spasming and she was desperate to get that knife out of her. Jack was suddenly by her side, shushing her while his fingers ghosted over the hilt of the dagger, never quite touching it, as if he wasn't sure he should.

"Calm down, stop moving," he said urgently, but the pain was so immense, Eleanor couldn't help but cry out when he moved her even slightly. "We need to get you somewhere safe, we need to move you," he pressed, the teens voice rising as he started to panic and she looked up briefly to see tears building in his eyes too. Then suddenly Aster was there too, looking wide eyes and scared, and he took hold of her hand.

"Hold on," he urged her, his eyes flickering to her side where blood was flowing out. Everyone was all too aware that where Winter had stabbed her was where her children were growing, and the amount of blood loss could be an indicator of something nobody wanted to address.

"Winter's gone!" North cried, rushing over and standing over them all, looking down at the Summer spirit with such concern written across his face it was painful to look at. "He just vanished."

Aster didn't pay him any attention, he was busy watching Eleanor writhe in pain on the floor, losing more and more blood by the second... there were five lives at stake here and he didn't intend on losing any one of them. His green eyes flickered to the dagger in her side, and he gulped as he reached for it, but a voice stopped him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Winter said, his voice low and dangerous, but when their heads swivelled around to face him there was a smile upon his face... he seemed gleeful. "You'll live to regret it. She won't, but you will."

"What have you done you dirty, evil, conniving git?!" Aster cried, jumping up from his mates side and grabbing Winter by the scruff of his neck. Winter merely brushed him off, still smirking, and he approached the group.

"I wouldn't take another step mate," Aster threatened, his knife out, and he'd skirted around Winter to press it to his throat, scowling up at him.

"I'm the only one that can remove the dagger," Winter hissed, still smirking, and again he pushed passed Aster, moving to Eleanor again.

Everyone seemed on edge, and he leaned down to Eleanor, stopping so his lips brushed her ear, and she flinched away from him.

"You won't live like this... but I can always gift Pitch with a new minion."

All of a sudden Winter had grabbed hold of the hilt of the dagger, and as his fingers closed around the ice and black sand, it melted. Water tricked down and then the pain that felt like ice, burned her insides suddenly tripled. But it felt more familiar, it felt like fire, but it burned too hot and a scream ripped from the spirits throat as the black sand infected her, coursed into her bloodstream and burned something rotten.

"Goodnight," Winter chuckled, but as he went to move away Eleanor grabbed at him, her fist closing around his cloak and she pulled him so close their noses were merely inches away. A fire was burning in her eyes, fury flickering there and she scowled at him.

"Goodnight yourself," she hissed, and with the last ounce of strength she had she pushed the red hot energy within her out, engulfing both herself and Winter, and while she could stand the heat, he could not. His scream pierced her eardrums, but she didn't let up. She forced herder, the fire intensified, and just like every time he he touched her and gave her frostbite, she watched as his skin blistered, reddened and peeled. And then all of a sudden, with a painful yell, he was gone. Evaporated in the air. Gone.

And Eleanor fell back onto the floor, exhausted, sick, the black sand running like poison through the blood in her veins, which quickly seeped out again through her open wound along with her blood. She was slipping, and as her vision blurred she could just make out two emeralds above her, piercing and warm and loving.

And then there was nothing.


	71. Chapter 71

Sidenote for iPastatalia - I'm totally up for doing your Bunny and Older Sophie story :) What would you like to see? Romance? Friendship? I have a couple ideas for it but obviously I'd be writing it dedicate to you so I want to make it what you want to read :D Send it in a review or whatever, it's gonna be fun!

* * *

So, this could have been the last chapter, but I can safely say there are three more. We are ending the story on chapter 74.

I've written the last chapter, right down to the letter and final punctuation mark. 'The End Of Summer', for me, has been finished. And I sincerely hope you've all enjoyed it thus far, and will enjoy the final chapters, and hopefully stay with me and read my other stories too. Because without all of you I wouldn't have made it as far as I have.

We all know I've had hiccups in my life as this story has gone on. The funniest being me breaking my knuckle pretending I was North, the one that least bothered me was my ex breaking up with me (he really is an asshat lol). And then the ones that made me give up on myself. I've tried taking me life during the course of this story, and obviously I didn't succeed. I'm still here writing to you, which on some level I'm glad of. But I don't think I'd have bothered coming back here if it weren't for the encouraging words I got from you all.

HerHiddenSecret, aquodox, kagrulez, TheAwesomePrussialsMe, MessengerAngel all sent me PM's encouraging me and I still have them. I've also had TenebrisSagittarius, LittlePlagueSpirit and a whole host of guests cheering me on through reviews.

I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you all. I don't care how people say the internet is corrupt these day, if it weren't for people I've met and talked to here I'd be dead.

So yeah, I owe you a lot :)

Please enjoy.

* * *

Aster watched as those golden brown eyes rolled back into Eleanor's head, and with a small gasp he started forward to her and lifted her head slightly. She was unresponsive, although her eyelids flickered as he pulled her into his arms, and her breathing slowed to nothing. She was almost dead. Her body was failing.

There was still a feeling of shock around the group that Eleanor – in a fit of fury and vengeance – had destroyed Old Man Winter, but there was the more pressing matter of her dying in Aster's arms. North wasted no time in pulling a snow globe from his pocket and throwing it into the air, a passage through to the Pole and Aster was the first one to go through, holding Eleanor close to him.

He felt numb though, unsure what to do, and he hadn't realised he'd stopped moving until North took Eleanor from his arms and rushed her away to the medical ward. And he stood there numbly, realising that his mate, the love of his life, was dying now... and their children were dying too. And he'd be all alone, and never hold her again and feel her breathing. It looked like he'd never have the chance to watch his children grow, or see Eleanor become a mother. He could feel his heart aching for her, and he wasn't aware of the tears spilling over until Tooth wrapped her arms about him and held him close.

"I-I'm scared," he found himself whispering, his voice thick with emotion as he tried to stop himself crying, but it was useless.

"I'm scared too," Tooth told him, and he heard the pain in her voice as it cracked a little, but she didn't cry. Although she looked like she wanted to, Tooth never shed a tear.

The world was swimming, and his evergreen eyes were clouded with tears as Tooth led him to a chair to sit him down. He didn't even try to protest, he just followed her as his world crashed around him. Guilt gripped at him, the thoughts of how he should have found her sooner, should have fought Winter harder to stop him hurting his sunflower. He only noticed when he'd sat down how his fur was stained with blood... her blood. Her life had been bleeding out onto him and there was nothing he'd been able to do to help her, and that made him feel sick.

"She's going to die, isn't she?" he whispered, his voice suddenly steady, but so quiet Tooth, Jack and Sandy had to move a little closer to him. It was as if he'd forced himself to say it, like he needed an answer.

None of them could find the words to answer him though, and his sad emerald eyes looked up to them before focusing on Jack, who was fighting back the tears himself. Aster choked a sob before bowing his head and clutching at himself. In his mind if he curled up, the pain would have to become smaller, and the tighter he folded his arms over his chest then the less likely it would be for his emotions to burst through.

"I couldn't save her in time," he cried, feeling himself dissolving into sobs. "I did it again!"

"What do... what do you mean 'again'?" Tooth whispered, and he opened his eyes to see her looking at him, her eyes curious. Swallowing the lump in his throat again Aster wiped his hands over his eyes, swiping tears away.

"I couldn't save her, not now, not back in the war. I just stood by and-" he started, his words rushed, garbled and angry... with himself. She stopped him though, swooping towards him to press her fingers against his lips and effectively shutting him up.

"Shh," she whispered, her voice strained as she kept her own emotions in check. "Stop blaming yourself."

"I'm meant to protect her," he mumbled, "I'm not meant to let this happen."

"It can't be helped... there was nothing you could do," Jack spoke up, but his voice was barely above a breath, and he didn't seem convinced. Aster thought of when he'd come through the snow globe portal just minutes ago and had stood there while her heart had been fading in her chest. She could possibly be dead now, and as that realisation hit him he stood abruptly and ran. His feet pounded against the stone flooring as he bounded off to the hospital ward. He wanted to be by her side no matter what, hold her hand and tell her everything, and he didn't care if she heard him or not. He needed to tell her...

He would have seconds with her, minutes at most. He wanted to tell her everything he'd ever thought about her, how much she meant to him, how she was the embodiment of his hope, how she gave his life light, how she made everything worth it. How when he woke up in the morning the first thing he did was roll over and watch her sleep, wondering how he ever got so lucky to have such a beautiful, wonderful woman to be his. He wanted to tell her that he had always believed in her, and how she was stronger than he could ever be because she went through each end every day existing for everybody else.

He wanted to tell her over and over how much he loved her, how much he cherished her, how much he needed her.

He didn't have time.

As he found the door for the hospital wing, he went to push his way through, but as he reached for the door it swung open his way, and he had to throw himself backwards and out of the way. He stared in shock as North stood above him, his blue eyes sad as he considered Aster, but what scared the Pooka most was the blood coating his hands.

"North, tell me... tell me she's alive," he pleaded, his voice low, trembling.

"She's asleep, Bunny. But sit down, we must talk."

Aster nodded, feeling senseless as North steered him to a bench along the wall and pushed him to sit down. He let himself be ferried about, his heart felt too heavy and his brain too addled to do it himself.

"What... what's happened?" he asked, his voice low and gruff, bright eyes fixed on the floor.

"She had to have a caesarian, to get the babies out before it worsened," North explained gently. "Only two made it," he added solemnly.

The Pooka could only nod, his heart breaking for his two children, dead before they could live. But hope inched it's way into his heart for the two that were breathing and living just beyond those doors, and he swallowed slowly, looking up at North.

"Are they... okay? Are they all grown?" he asked, wringing his hands.

"They're healthy, Bunny. One boy, one girl. The other two were boys... I am sorry."

"No... no it's okay," Aster started, clearing his throat. It wasn't okay and North knew that, but he was trying to focus on the positives now. Two of his children were alive and well, and Eleanor was just... he didn't know

"Is she alright?" he asked quietly after a moments pause. He was talking about Eleanor, and though North had said she was asleep he didn't know if he was saying she was sleeping in the literal sense or if she had passed away. And he needed to know.

"She's sleeping Bunny," North started, but Aster cut over him, looking up at him sharply.

"You've said that, but how does it look?"

North paused and cleared his throat, shrugging.

"She might not make it through to morning. Maybe, old friend, you should be in there with her."

It was all Aster needed to know, and he stood and walked to the door, his hand hesitating over the handle for a moment before he grasped it and pushed, walking into the long room where hospital beds were lined against the wall. Pitch was in the first one, looking exhausted and sad, and his bright eyes followed Aster as he crossed the room. Aster barely noticed him call out to him, his voice was so weak.

"Rabbit," Pitch started, and Aster shook his head.

"Bunny," he corrected, though it felt pointless to do so.

"Whatever... I just wanted to say that- that I'm sorry for your loss. I really am."

There was sincerity in Pitch's eyes, and Aster could only nod a little. He'd never forgive the man for what he'd done to him in the past. He'd never forget the chilling screams of the Pooka in his village as they were killed by shadows and nightmares, but if it weren't for him then he'd have lost so much more.

"Me too," the Pooka managed, avoiding looking at Pitch as he lay in the bed, and he gulped slightly as questions coursed through his mind. There was so many he wanted to ask... why he'd kept her whereabouts a secret for so long. Why he'd come to them anyway, risking his life for Eleanor. The one that pressed on his mind most was the one he decided to ask.

"She's been... there was black sand in the dagger, and now it's in her," he choked, trying his best to ignore the look of shock upon Pitch's face, the horror in his eyes. Aster's thoughts flickered briefly to how the black sand had affected Sandy last year. It had effectively killed him, but by some miracle he'd come back. "What're her chances?"

"I wouldn't hold out for much," Pitch said quietly, his golden eyes flickering to a bed across the room that was shielded from view by a curtain. "I really wouldn't."

Aster merely nodded and turned from him, his heart dropping into his stomach, and as he made the short walk across the room he found it more and more difficult to do it. His body felt heavier than it should, his muscles weak, his mind blurred and confused. As he reached the curtain it took everything he had to pull it open, and stepping inside physically drained him. Looking at her in the bed emotionally drained him.

The only time she'd ever looked so broken was when he'd seen her die the first time, ninety-seven years ago. When her body had been pulled from the wreck of her home, and she'd been limp and lifeless, much like a rag doll.

It was like she were dead in that bed there and then, and though he'd seen her dead before it hadn't been after spending a lifetime with her. It had been hard enough then, and he didn't want to have to do it again. He'd loved her then, but not as deeply as he loved her now... he hadn't held her close in the throes of passion or fought with her as only lovers could. Hadn't spend those countless, sleepless nights watching her curl into him as she slept, taking comfort in him being there, feeling protected. He'd not known what it was to love her as he could, and now he did he didn't know how he could wake up in the morning and not feel her fingers twisted gently in his fur. He didn't know how he could go day to day without her being alive and well.

Beside the bed was a cot with two tiny bundles in it, and his heart leaped as he looked down at the sleeping faces of his two children. Biting his lip, he reached out and brushed his fingers over their tiny heads, feeling the soft fur that had grown there already. His daughter was wrapped in a soft pink blanket, and she was completely snowy white besides the grey fur that marked her nose, the tip of her ears, her hands – and when he checked, her feet and tail too. His son, wrapped in blue, had dark grey fur like his own, and had similar markings to his sister, except his were all in a golden sandy coloured fur. They looked beautiful, and though he wondered his other two sons had looked like, he couldn't bare to think about it.

Aster slipped his fingers into their hands, willing them to keep breathing, to never leave him. He needed them, and they needed him. He couldn't lose them too. They were so small. Smaller than normal Pooka kits were, but they were still his, and he loved them already. As he pulled his fingers from their grasp, they stirred a little and cooed in their sleep, but stayed that way. And he turned to face Eleanor again, sitting beside the bed in a hard wooden chair, reaching out and taking her hand, squeezing it softly.

"Wake up sunflower," he whispered, his voice pleading. "Come back to me."


	72. Chapter 72

On a low again, but I'm still here. 2 chapters to go amigos, and I have 465 reviews now guy. Think with these last three chapters we can bump me to 500? I think it'd be pretty awesome.

I went for a mental evaluation and scored pretty high, and after an interview I got told I do have severe depression (no way!) and I'm displaying symptoms of psychosis too. Fun.

I also might have something wrong with my brain, and the neurologist didn't sound too positive. His line:

"For your benefit Miss Crompton, we'll send you for a scan... just to see about... it."

Casual. Smooth. Would never have noticed how morbid that sounded. I literally heard the dot dot dot.

So I'm upsetting you all with this chapter now.

Cheers my lovelies, and I know I vented, but try not to put in reviews that it'll be okay, I don't wanna read about it. I really don't. But thanks for thinking about me, it's good to know sometimes that someone cares x

* * *

"She's adorable," Tooth whispered, cradling the tiny Pooka in her arms, stroking her fur back and letting her fingers brush over her little ears. The tiny kit mewled up at Tooth, her eyes a shining a golden green – something reminiscent of rolling hay fields in the Summer time – and she peered up at the fairy curiously.

"Yeah," Aster agreed, reaching out and stroking the kits' cheek, smiling slightly as she turned her head to lean into the familiar touch of her father. "She's gonna be a beaut."

"Why haven't you named them?" Jack asked from the other side of the bed where he was holding Aster's son, bouncing him gently on his knee. He was grinning widely, making silly little faces at the baby that was making him hiccup slightly.

"I'm not naming them without Eleanor... not unless I have to," the Pooka said quietly, taking his daughter off Tooth who passed her gently, and he held the baby close, kissed her atop her head before he settled her in her cot. The other Guardians were quiet as they nodded slightly, and their eyes strayed to the bed they were sat around and the girl in it still sleeping. A week ago North had suggested that they move the kits into a different room, but if they were moved too far away from their comatose mother they'd cry and wriggle. They wanted to be with her.

On some level is gave Aster hope, because instinct would tell the babies to leave her side if she were dying, otherwise they would perish too. But he didn't want them becoming too close to her if she wasn't going to make it. He didn't know how he'd be able to deal with the pain of losing his love and have to help his children grieve too, even though they wouldn't understand what they would be feeling.

Sandy floated over to the crib and dusted the baby with his dream sand, and while she cooed at first and her golden eyes shone with excitement, she couldn't fight of the feeling of being tired, and her eyes slid closed and her breathing calmed and her chest rose and fell slowly as she drifted off.

He moved and took his son from Jack, who looked a little disappointed at having the little one taken from him. Aster had to hand it to the teen, he made an excellent uncle already. He played with the babies through the day and at night when Aster was sat by Eleanor's side, he would stop by and see if he needed anything, and if he could help. On more than one occasion one of the kits would wake and cry for attention, and Aster himself would feel too exhausted to do anything. Before he even had chance to move Jack would be there shushing them, Sandy on his heels to send the baby back into sweet dreams. He lay his son down beside his daughter, leaning over them both and nuzzling their foreheads slightly, before shifting himself and going back to sit at Eleanor's bedside, hold her hand and wait for her to wake up. He had a week to go until Easter... he needed her to wake up soon, because he couldn't leave her here, and he couldn't leave his children for a few days to do his work. He needed to know she was safe and well. The other Guardians took the initiative and left the room, leaving Aster to his thoughts and with his family.

"Come on darlin', I need you," he whispered, resting his head upon her hand, her fingers brushing his fur although she was still limp and lifeless.

"I need to sort Easter out, take care of them though?" he asked North, and the older man nodded his head.

"If anything happens, I will send Jack to you," he promised, extending his hand and shaking the Pooka's.

Aster left through the tunnels and appeared out in the Warren, breathing in the air he'd not smelled in about a month, looking about at the rolling hills and the dense forests, down to the lakes and ponds and the centre of the Warren, where the burrow was, where he, Eleanor and their children should be now. Swallowing the lump that was forming in his throat, he set off to round the Easter eggs up and have them painted. They wouldn't look as good as they had a few years ago, and it'd be a rushed job like last year, but there were more important things to deal with at the moment. It was fairly easy herding the googies down the path, setting them off to be painted and glossed and decorated, smiling slightly as everything came together and for a minute a sense of normality washed over him.

In the one day he managed to get half of his work done, and though thoroughly exhausted, he knew it was only four days until Easter, and everything had to be perfect.

That continued until the day he had to get them out into the world and hide them, after each long day Aster would curl up beneath a tree or out on a field, refusing to sleep in his burrow without Eleanor by his side. But sleep was hard, thoughts of Eleanor lying alone in that hospital bed gripped at him and kept him awake, leaving him tossing and turning through the night.

Come Easter Sunday he was knackered, and he didn't feel like challenging the kids too much so he just dropped eggs wherever he felt like it. It was lazy, he knew, it wasn't what he normally did, but his mind wasn't focused on just this, and his heart was elsewhere. It was when he was finishing up that he noticed the moon shining brightly in the sky, his breathing hitched and without pausing he'd opened a tunnel and dived through, rushing to the Pole.

He resurfaced right in the hospital wing, bounding over to the bed Eleanor was lying in, watching as she stirred. North was stood by the bedside looking concerned, and even Pitch who was still bedridden had sat up and was watching, eyes wide.

"When did she start waking up?" the Pooka asked North, shushing the babies who cried in their cot before moving to Eleanor, taking her hand and holding it to his chest. His heart was thrumming along beneath his ribs, and he couldn't help the small smile that was creeping across his face. Slowly her eyes flickered open, staring up at the ceiling, the golden-brown orbs dazed and confused. Aster watched as she gathered herself, shifting slightly and wincing as pain shot through her abdomen.

"Where am I?" she whispered, groaning as she looked about her.

"Shh, flower, you're at the Pole," Aster soothed, squeezing her hand a little bit.

Eleanor turned her head and looked at him, and though at first her eyes seemed unfocused and confused, they fixed on him and for a moment, her golden-brown eyes held his vibrant green ones. He dared not breathe as her eyes swept over him, and her lips parted slightly in a small 'o' shape and her brows knit themselves together. He felt sick again, he felt like something was wrong, and when her eyes met his again all he could read in their bright depths was confusion.

"Who are you?" she asked.


	73. Chapter 73

Guys, can you realise I have nine finished stories for RotG? And I've just started another one that I have like... 50+ chapters planned, but they're mostly drabbles and arcs. It's called 'The Guardians A-Z' and it's gonna be awesome. I have it all planned out.

iPastatalia, I have several ideas for your Sophie x Bunny fic, but I've settled on one and I quite like it :) It'll be called 'Roadtrip to College', so keep an eye out. I'll be finishing 'Master of Darkness' first though, or mostly finishing it.

One chapter to go.

Please check out my other fic 'There Was A Mrs Clause', and it's got one chapter left (snap). It's only short too, so no worries :D

Enjoy!

* * *

"Who are you?" she repeated, gulping nervously as the giant rabbit looked at her with shock and pain expressed upon his face. She could see the anguish in his eyes, and she bit her lip slightly.

"Flower? It's me. Don't- don't you recognise me?" he asked, and she narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what he was on about. His voice had an Australian twang to it, and she could have sworn she'd heard his voice before... but maybe only in a dream. She shook her head slightly, but regretted it the second she saw the rabbit's heart break. Tears filled his bright green eyes and he seemed to crumple upon himself a little, his shoulders slumping as he let out a pained moan.

"I'm sorry," she told him quietly, complete sincerity in her expression and voice. "I don't know who you are."

"B-but how?" he asked, letting go of her hand and stepping away from her, obviously distraught. Eleanor looked from the rabbit on one side of her bed to the large bearded man on the other side. The fact that she was surrounded by strangers didn't unsettle her, nor did the fact that one of them was an overgrown rabbit. What was scaring her was the fact that she didn't know who they were, and they thought she should. Deep down she thought she should know them herself. But she didn't. And this whole situation was scaring her.

"I don't know what's happening," she said quietly, forcing herself upright and ignoring the searing pain in her stomach. "I don't know you."

"Lie down, please," the large man urged her, moving forward a little with his hands extended towards her.

"Tell me, who are you?" she cried, tears pricking her eyes as her brain went into overdrive. The rabbit sighed slightly and moved towards her too, sitting beside her on the bed and taking her hands in his. He rubbed his thumbs over the back of her hands gently, soothing her slightly.

"Nora, what do you remember?" he asked her instead, and while it made her want to argue that she'd asked him first, his question sent her mind reeling and images flashed before her eyes of her entire life.

She thought of her siblings, George and Mary, and how they'd all been ripped apart. George went to the army, Mary was forced to grow up too quickly. A war. Bombs... and fire so intense it engulfed her, merged with her. She remembered the moon and the long walks along beaches in the Summertime and people. Only a few. She remembered a girl with a Swedish accent and a boy with bright blue eyes and white hair. She remembered black horses that screamed in the night.

And she remembered a knife. Long, thin and morbidly beautiful.

And she remembered how much it hurt when it had been driven into her. But she remembered nothing else.

"What's going on?" she choked, tears clouding her eyes. She felt the rabbit move and his arms were wrapped around her and for a second it was comforting, but then she felt uncomfortable, wrong, and there was so much more in this embrace he held her in than she was able to cope with. There was so much emotion there, and it confused and scared her.

"No," she cried, wrenching from his gasp, and though her body screamed at her in pain she sprang from the bed and pelted from the room. She didn't make it far though. She managed to get to the end of the corridor and out into a room with what looked like a hug globe in it before the pain caused her to feel sick. Her head span and the agony was almost crippling, but she needed to keep moving. To her right were a series of small rooms, merely places in the wall that a tiny being could walk into and move about a little bit, and without wasting a second she pushed herself into one, sat with her back against the wall and her knees tucked up to her chest, and though curling up so tightly like this hurt her stomach her heart seemed to ache more.

She'd forgotten something, and the image of the rabbit's bright green eyes stuck in her mind, and she knew he was important. He had to be important, but she couldn't for the life of her remember him.

And so she wrapped her arms around her legs, held herself tightly, and cried silently to herself, trying to piece together all the events she remembered while desperately trying to recall all the things in between that connected them. It felt like part of her was missing, and for some reason she couldn't explain, her heart was hurting her. It wasn't a physical pain... it was an emotional one.

"What have I forgotten?" the girl whispered to herself, feeling angry and hurt for a reason she couldn't explain.

* * *

"I can't find her anywhere," Jack cried, rushing back to the hospital wing where Aster was trying to sooth his children. Their mother running off had upset them, understandably, and he'd not spoken a word since she'd fled down the hall because if he opened his mouth he was sure he'd only break.

She'd forgotten him. She'd forgotten all of them. The black sand in her system had messed her head up, and she was somewhere in the Pole, hiding and confused and upset and he couldn't do anything about it because she had no idea who he was. It was worse than her dying... because now it was like he had a chance of keeping her, and they could have some semblance of normality again, but she wouldn't throw herself into a life she wasn't sure of. A life she thought she had no connection to.

"Bunny... are you okay?" Jack asked, coming up to him and laying a hand on his shoulder. Aster felt himself tremble slightly, felt his anger and frustration build up so suddenly and violently that he shrugged Jack off and glared daggers at him.

"Me? I'm fine mate, it's not like I'm dealing with two newborn kits, or the fact that I lost two of my children, or the fact that the girl I love doesn't remember me or her kids. Yeah, no I'm fantastic."

Jack looked up at him, hurt expressed in his icy blue eyes, and then his jaw clenched and he scowled at him, the teens anger reaching breaking point too.

"You think this is easy for anyone Bunny? I know it's gonna be harder for you but imagine what Eleanor feels like! She's alone, injured and scared and you're sat here not looking for her. I know you could find her in a heartbeat if you wanted, but you're too busy feeling sorry for yourse-"

Aster had enough listening to Jack reprimand him, and in one swift motion he'd dove on the other Guardian and pinned him to the ground by his shoulders. His nose was nearly touching Jack's, and his emerald eyes burned with such fury that Jack seemed to shrink a little beneath him. The Pooka felt more than ready to rip the little sods head off, but his nose caught a scent of something, and it was far more important to follow that.

The familiar smell of lavender and ash.

"Watch my kids," he hissed, before jumping off Jack and hurtling down the halls, following the smell he'd known for years to the girl he'd known more or less all her life, but who in some sick twist of events didn't know him.

He found himself in the globe room, walking along quietly while trying to figure out where she could be. It was when he was walking past the elves quarters built into the side of the room that he smelled the lavender strongest, and he ducked his head to look into the room where it all seemed to be coming from, and he found himself looking at Eleanor, curled up and crying, and she looked back at him with scared eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, snuffling, and he felt his heart break for her.

He hated it when Jack was right... Eleanor was the one suffering most, and though it hurt for him to see her run away from him and not know who he was, it was like she knew nothing of her life. She was missing such a large chunk of herself that it was sad.

"Don't be darlin'," he said gently, holding a hand out to her. "Come here."

He had to urge her a bit, but the human need to not feel alone and to accept comfort at a time like this was greater than her defiance, and she wriggled herself out of her hiding spot and crawled over to him. He sat down on the cold floor and looked at her and she knelt in front of him, her eyes bloodshot, her face tear stained, and her hair ruffled and messed up. And even though she looked like hell, he still thought she was the most beautiful being he'd ever seen.

"Come here," he coaxed her, and she swallowed a lump in her throat and reached out to him, her arms wrapping around his neck as she let him gently pull her into his lap. And he had to be gentle, because he didn't want to aggravate her wounds any more than she already had by running from them. Slowly he combed his fingers through her hair while she sobbed her heart out into his chest, and he whispered to her that it would all be alright, and everything would be sorted out, and he'd help her remember. He swore he would. And after five minutes of comforting her, she sniffed slightly and looked up at him with curiosity written in her eyes.

"I know I'm meant to know, and I really wish I didn't have to ask. But who are you?"

It hurt, her asking him. But at least she wanted to know, and she didn't want to put the moon and stars in between them.

"My full name is E. Aster Bunnymund. But people just call me Bunny, mostly, or Aster," he told her, and it felt very much like he was meeting her again for the first time. He'd said that exact line to her years ago, and he half expected her to start calling him 'Mister Bunnymund' as she had done when she was just a little girl.

"Do I call you Aster?" she asked instead, and he nodded slightly at her, and her mouth fell open a little bit as she was lost in through. "I take it we're close then."

"Very," he said quietly, and though it took a moment, the full meaning of his simple reply crashed over her, and she flushed bright red. Her eyes scanning over him as she took in the idea of being involved with him. The Pooka began preparing himself for her rejecting the idea. After all, she'd had a lifetime to get to know him and fall for him before, but now... now she was a human girl, and he was indeed just a large rabbit. He wouldn't be surprised if she was repelled by the idea, he just sincerely hoped she wasn't.

"Is that why you're being so nice to me?"

He looked down at her, watching as she unhooked her arms from around his neck and trailed her fingers over his shoulders and across his chest, tangling them in his fur before resting her head against his shoulder. She closed her eyes, breathing slowly, and he could tell she was thinking about things, and he tried to calm himself because he swore she'd be able to feel his heart hammering away.

"I need help remembering," she muttered, turning her face into his fur, and he felt his heart skip a little as he realised how comfortable she still was around him, despite not remembering him. She must do one some level though, otherwise she wouldn't be curled into his arms like she had been a million times before.

"It's gonna come back to you flower, you just wait."

They spoke quietly to one another for a small while until Aster decided it would be in Eleanor's best interests to get back to the hospital wing and rest a little more, make sure she was healed properly before she did any more running about. And though she assured him she could walk, they didn't get ten steps before she was pale as a sheet and looking ready to drop. When he walked into the wing carrying Eleanor in his arms there was a moment when the other Guardians looked ready to rush towards them both, but a stern look from the Pooka made them all shrink away slightly, and when he jerked his head to the door they got the silent message and left, Eleanor's eyes trailing after them.

"I need to remember everybody," she mused as he set her down on the bed, and she sighed as she lay down, her fingers fluttering over her injured stomach. "I need to remember what happened."

He noticed how her gaze flickered to Pitch, who was sitting upright in his bed and healing well as she was. She tilted her head curiously at him, and he could have laughed with the Nightmare King offered a friendly wave and a crooked smile. It was so out of character for the usually dark man that he didn't know if he'd imagined it or not. Instead he drew the curtain, and looked back at her.

"You'll remember," Aster assured her, smiling slightly at her. A soft mewling from the corner of the curtained off space caught his attention though, and he walked over to look down at his little boy who was wide awake and cooing up at him, his eyes a bright green, just like his own. He reached into the cot and lifted the baby out, holding him close. A soft gasp made him turn yet again, and Eleanor had sat up on the bed, and was watching the child carefully.

"He's beautiful," she whispered, and reached out for the baby. Aster didn't hesitate to pass the child to her, and she took him in her arms and held him close, smiling down at him. Something in her fell in love with the child instantly, and her eyes glittered as she whispered soft things to him, stroking his ears back and kissing his nose. The little boy gurgled up at his mother, though she had no idea she was, and Aster found himself smiling.

"I told you it'd be fine," he murmured, and was shocked when her eyes flitted his way. He hadn't thought she'd hear him.

"You told me when?" she asked, kissing the kit on his head as she kept her eyes trained on the older Pooka. He floundered around for a moment for some way to explain, but she understood and nodded. "Before I lost my memory, I see."

She sounded very calm, very much at peace, and he watched as she stood and bounced the baby gently, rocked him back and forth, and in a matter of minutes he'd fallen asleep in her arms, head resting over her heart where he'd hear the familiar drumming he'd heard for the eight months he'd grown in her womb. He watched as his mate carried the sleeping baby back to the cot, and though she paused as she looked into it, she eventually leaned over and put the baby down. And she didn't move... she just kept staring hard at the two sleeping babies with her brow furrowed, as if she were thinking something.

"What's wrong?" he asked, standing and walking to her side, placing his hand over hers as she rested it upon the edge of the cot, her free hand pressed to her stomach, as if she were holding the pain in.

"I don't... I don't think I'm right," she whispered, and she looked up at him with big, watery eyes.

"What? What are you not right about?" he asked, his voice on edge, and his mind ran in overtime to try and figure out what she was thinking before she told him so he'd have a response ready for her.

"I... I just thought that... there should be more of them."

"There should be," he told her gently, and slowly he moved his arm so instead of resting his hand atop hers, he was able to wrap his arm around her shoulders and hold her a little closer.

"They didn't make it?" she asked, her bright eyes flooding now, tears escaping down her cheeks and something clicked in her mind again, and she looked back to the babies and up the Aster again, biting her lip.

"No."

"We lost them... didn't we? They're mine."


	74. Chapter 74

**SPECIAL NOTICE FOR EVERYONE!**

**I'm extending the fic!**

I had a dream last night you see, that made a WAY better ending that the one I already had, and when I woke up I had to delete the chapter I had without bothering to think everything through and get writing the replacements. So this is in fact NOT the last chapter. I repeat, NOT THE LAST CHAPTER!

Is it bad that I dream about my fics? Has anyone else done that? Be honest ;D

And shout out to HerHiddenSecret and aquodox who've become my friends during this story, I love you guys.

Anony Mouse, get an account ;)

Everyone else, enjoy!

* * *

"I still don't know what I'm doing," she said quietly, picking up the baby boy and bouncing him on her knee. Aster looked over at her with sad eyes, and she looked back blankly.

"I'm not expecting you to... but if it's any help, I think you're fantastic with them," he replied, nodding to the babies who were just about toddling. They were only six months old, but being Pooka they developed faster than human babies. Their little boy, Freddy, had gotten to the point where he'd try jumping short distances. This normally resulted in him landing on his face, which would set their daughter Joyce off giggling. She was far more careful about what she did, taking tedious steps and little hops so she was steadier on her feet.

"Well... they're mine," Eleanor pointed out, although the thought still startled her. They were both six months old now, and though she'd had time to come to terms with the idea it was still thoroughly confusing to imagine she'd had four rabbits growing inside her – two of which hadn't made it, and her heart still ached when she thought about them.

The pair were quiet as they watched the children play, Freddy rolling from her lap before he jumped on Joyce, making her squeal. Eleanor sat watching her children for a small while, her golden-brown eyes expressing such a sadness that Aster saw immediately. He leaned forwards and touched her shoulder and she jumped slightly, looking at him with shock across her face, and he noticed how slowly she inched away from him.

"I need to talk to you," she told him, and the sadness in her eyes deepened a little, and Aster felt his heart plummet.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and she jerked her head to the side, indicating they should move away from the kits before talking. So once they made sure they were happily playing with daffodils they walked a little ways away, Eleanor with her arms wrapped around herself, Aster with his swinging by his side, unsure what else to do with himself.

"I don't... I don't know how this is going to work," she told him, avoiding eye contact. "I mean, I know you better than I did six months ago, but I don't know how we ever..."

"How we ever what?" he asked, and he felt tense and scared.

"How we ever... worked."

She looked at him then, and he searched her eyes desperately for some sign of something. But though he saw sadness in her eyes, it wasn't for what he thought it might have been. It wasn't the sadness you'd hold in your eyes if you were telling someone you loved it wasn't working any more. It was the sadness you'd express when you felt guilty about something.

"What do you mean?" he asked, and she sighed slightly, looking down.

"I mean... I don't think I can ever make this work, in my head. I-I can't get over the fact that-"

"That I'm a rabbit?" he asked, and though he felt his heart breaking, he understood where she was coming from.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and he saw tears pricking her eyes. "It's not because I don't like you, because I do, I think you're amazing for helping me these past months. I just don't think I can like you the way I... the way I used to."

"I understand," Aster choked, trying his hardest to swallow the lump in his throat. He looked away from her to the children who were jumping about as if nothing was wrong, babbling to one another. Eleanor looked too, and wiped her tears from her face.

"Is it okay if I still see them?" she asked, her voice a whisper, and he looked back at her startled.

"Yeah! Sun- Nora, you can see them any time you want to."

"Sure?"

"Course I'm sure... you're their mum, you can see them all the time," he told her, blinking tears away furiously. She nodded slowly, before she walked away from him to their children, kneeling beside them and pulling them both into her arms, holding them close as they looked up at her with their bright eyes. She kissed them gently on their heads, smiling at them as she told them she'd be back soon, and she loved them. As she set them back on the ground, she took a few steps back from them and looked to Aster, who watched her with sad eyes. She frowned at him, her whole expression apologetic.

And then she burst into flame, sparks showering around her, and she left.

* * *

"It's been a year now, has she not come back?" Jack asked quietly, blowing snowflakes over Joyce's head and watching as she giggled.

"She visits a lot, every other day to see these two."

But only to see these two?" Jack asked, making himself comfortable against the couch, watching carefully as Joyce lurched for his staff, clinging to the edge of it and laughing as he raised her up off the ground an inch.

"It's a lot for her to take in," Aster reasoned as he ignored the fact that it hurt when he thought about how she didn't ever seem to want to see him. He reached out quickly and grabbed Freddy before he jumped at one of the elves, setting him down on the rug to play with his sister. "I understand that."

"Right," Jack muttered, knowing all too well how much it was hurting the Pooka that the woman he loved with all his heart was avoiding him. "When was the last time she came to see them?"

"Two days ago... I told her we were coming up here though, so I don't know if she'll come today."

They'd all gone up to the Pole by North's invitation. He had to admit he'd gotten closer to the Russian since this whole fiasco started, and he spoiled his kids something rotten when he saw them, which was funny, and he was glad it was only on occasion otherwise they'd grow up spoiled, and he hated that thought.

"She'll come today," came a soft voice, and he looked up from the floor to see Tooth smiling at him warmly, swooping over to wrap him in a hug, and that's when he noticed the small box in her hand.

"How do you know? And what's that?" he asked, but he smiled nonetheless, because she seemed so cheerful.

"I know because she's spoken to me, and... and she asked me to bring this," the fairy explained, kneeling on the rug beside the four of them and holding out the box of teeth, biting her lip slightly. "She said she wanted to know where everything began, and she's still having trouble figuring things out."

"But... that will only let her know about-"

"You," came a voice, and they looked to the door to see Eleanor stood there shifting awkwardly. Silence rung through the room, and Aster felt his eyes open wider as he looked at Eleanor properly. She smiled at him a little, before walking into the room and kneeling on the rug beside them all. Joyce turned to her mother and smiled, reaching for her.

"Mama!"

"Hey sweety," she smiled, picking her up and cuddling her, and Aster watched as a large smile crept across her face as Freddy bounded towards her too, jumping on her. "And you too!"

She pulled her little boy towards her too, kissing him on the cheek and laughing when he rubbed at it, grumbling at her before sticking his tongue out and wriggling free of her arms and jumped on the elf his father had prevented him jumping on before.

"You okay?" Jack asked, grinning at Eleanor, and she nodded back at him smiling, then she looked briefly at Aster and smiled at him, and then to Tooth.

"Did you bring my teeth?" she asked the fairy, and she nodded brightly, extending her hand and passing the small golden box over to the Summer spirit. "Thanks."

"Can I talk to you?" Aster piped up, not really sure why he did it, but he did, and she looked at him for a moment before she passed Joyce over to Jack and pushed herself up from the floor and nodded to him.

"Sure, I was gonna ask you the same thing."

He led her down the hall, leaving the kids with Tooth and Jack to entertain them and he pushed open the door and gestured for them to go into the empty room. It was the same one they'd been in years ago after the second world war, when she'd grieved for the losses of the countless numbers of dead children, and he closed the door behind them.

"You go first," she told him, smiling slightly as she sat down on the window ledge.

"Why do you want your memories?" he asked outright, folding his arms. "You even said they'd only help you remember... me."

"Ah," she said quietly, and she looked down at the box in her hands. "Well, recently some things have been coming back to me, and I really want to remember more."

"Why?"

"Because- because some of these memories helped me overcome the fact that you're a rabbit. I found that I don't really care."

He only nodded slightly at her, feeling his heart beat rapidly against his chest as her words washed over him. Whatever she'd remembered had had some effect on her outlook towards him. It wasn't that she didn't like him at all, not even from the day she'd woken up with her amnesia, because over the last year and a half they'd gotten on very well, would laugh together and joke about, but she'd not given him any sign of wanting anything more than friendship. His relationship with her literally hung in the balance of what the box would show her.

"What did you want to ask me?" he asked her, sitting beside her.

"I wanted to ask if you'd sit with me while I looked at them. Jack told me he got his memories back but baby tooth couldn't see them. I figured you wouldn't be able to either, but I want someone here when I finish."

"And you wanted that to be me?" he asked her, his ears flattening back against his head.

"I trust you," Eleanor said with a smile, making herself comfortable beside him before she lay her hand over the top of the box.


	75. Chapter 75

Hey, so this really IS the final chapter. And I'm happy with it, even though it means saying goodbye to you all :(

I hope you'll keep in touch, either my PM-ing me or reviewing on other things I've done, just to let me know you're still there. I have three major fanfic ideas in the works. **'Broken Heartstrings Bleed The Blues'** which focuses around a male OC, **'Dead Girls In The Leaves'** which is a drama around the Guardians, and **'The Guardians A-Z'** which is a series of drabbles, and I already have 50+ planned and I have 2 posted as of now xD I'm a wee bit of a writer.

I also want to say thanks to the people that have encouraged me to keep going, even when there was no reason for me to. Admittedly, I'm going through the worst stint I've ever been through right now in this moment. It sucks balls. But I'll carry on, I suppose. I won't write anything good when I'm dead.

I'm still here though, alive and kicking, and I will continue to be for a while :)

As it is though my friends, my _family_, 'The End Of Summer' had reached its final paragraph, line, and punctuation point. Although, I think maybe it will carry on for a while after it's been bumped off the first page of the Rise of the Guardians category ;D

If you like, I will take requests for oneshots of anything if you want me to write something, still working on the SophiexBunny one for iPastatalia, but I like my projects so throw them at me! It can be anything, I really don't mind.

Enjoy, I love you.

* * *

For a second everything seemed to glitter, and then her memories rushed over her in quick succession. They seemed to blur and knit together, and Eleanor watched her life as if it were on a film.

She saw her helping him limp to her house, saw herself lying against him and falling to sleep. She saw Easter egg hunt after Easter egg hunt, saw them laughing and joking and arguing – then making up again.

She watched as he held her close when she cried. Eleanor watched herself blush as she cast sideways glances at him while the both lay in the grass in the Warren, talking, sleeping, watching the stars. She watched him run himself ragged to try and save children and keep hope up at the start of the war, and she watched herself falling for him. She watched herself kiss him. And she kept falling so hard that when he told her memory self it couldn't happen she literally crashed.

And then the room came swimming back to her, but her memories continued to flood back to her. She felt like she was drowning, she couldn't breath, but she didn't care.

The spirit was able to remember more and more of her life after her death, and with each new memory, something fixed itself inside her.

She remembered when he found her in the riven in Wales, and for a moment they'd been shocked to see one another properly and then he'd rushed to her and held her so tightly it hurt, but she hadn't minded. The way he'd pressed his face into her neck, tears in his eyes, glad to have her back.

"_God, I thought I lost you forever," he gasped, his hand coming up and caressing her face. "I thought you were gone..."_

And they'd kissed briefly, their first real kiss, and it stunned them both into silence. And even after that it had taken him weeks to accept his love for her and she'd gone to the Warren to find him and tell him to get over it, but he already had.

"_I love you," he whispered, his voice catching a little on the way out, her heart thundering away as he awaited her reply._

She remembered ten first ten years she was with him, remembered the kisses and the hugs and each tender touch. How he'd hold her close when she got flustered at things and whisper to her that it would be alright, and she remembered cuddling into him at night and he'd stroke her hair and kiss her gently on the head until she was asleep, and then she'd wake up halfway through the night and he was still awake – unable to sleep himself – and she'd catch him smiling at her as she slept until he realised she'd woken up. Then he'd laugh and say he wasn't.

She remembered the first time they'd made love, and how afterwards he'd confessed he wanted her to be his forever. And he'd marked her.

_She smiled at him and laid her head back down on his chest, and slowly the Pooka rested his chin upon her head, marking her with his scent._

Then the second world war ran through her mind, and she remembered being sat in this very room they were sat in now, watching the moon cast light over the snow flurries that blew over the cliff tops. Eleanor remembered how she'd been upset, and how he'd come to comfort her. And he had. They'd danced even though he was terrible at it.

"_Like this?" he asked, going to do it again, but she was already nudging his left foot with her right, and he had to move that back instead._

"_No, no, no!" she laughed, her eyes shining brighter as they stumbled around. It was like he had two left feet, he had no idea. "And back," she said, trying again, but their feet crossed and they started stumbled further, losing their balance._

"_Stop!" Aster cried, but it was too late, he was already falling back and he was pulled Eleanor over with him._

There were too many 'I love you's for her to count, too many loving glances, but when they all come back to her she remembered why she loved him. Something sparked.

And they'd learned more about one another every day, and they fell more and more in love. They tried for children, and succeeded and she remembered everything about her pregnancy, and she remembered Winter kidnapping her, and Pitch helped save her, and she'd been stabbed. And Aster had been with her... every second.

They'd managed to make it through every hardship life had thrown at them, but this one had proved difficult.

"Aster," she whispered, and she felt his arm wrap around her, and he was holding her steady while her vision blurred, her head swam, and her whole body felt weak.

"Nora, you okay?" he asked her, pulling her firmly by his side so she didn't fall off the window ledge.

"I'm sorry," she told him, turning her golden-brown eyes up to him, "I'm sorry I forgot."

"It's... you remember?" he asked, his voice hoarse and his eyes were wide with shock. She searched them, smiled slightly when she saw hope flickering in them.

"I miss you calling me sunflower," she simply said, turning to him and wrapping her arms around him, pressing her face into his chest. His arms wrapped around her properly, and she sensed his hesitation, sensed his slight unease, but she longer she cuddled him the more confident he felt about it all, and he shifted himself so she was straddling his lap, facing him properly, and she moved her arms from around his torso to around his neck and she raised her head so she looked into his evergreen eyes again. They both smiled.

"You remember," he breathed.

"I remember."

"How?"

"I don't know. I- this helped me first," she said, gesturing to the box. "Then the rest came back."

"Just like that?" he chuckled.

"Just like that," she agreed, leaning towards him and pressing her nose to his. "I am sorry though."

"Don't be darlin', it wasn't your fault," he said softly, stroking her back softly. The Pooka felt slightly overwhelmed. He'd watched her for minutes as her memories surged back to her, her eyes wide and glassy, her expression one of shock, and he'd worried that maybe the memories would be too much for her to take all at once. He didn't know how everything else came back to her, didn't want to know, because she remembered. She remembered him, their life, their love.

She remembered.

"I hate Winter," she whispered, smirking.

"The season or the bastard that stabbed you?" he asked with a laugh.

"The bastard that stabbed me," she laughed along with him, and they shared that laughter for a few moments, and when they calmed down she grinned a little, lowered her voice. "I'll be honest though, as much as I love Jack I'm not a huge fan of Winter."

"Me neither," he whispered, and there was a pause, and his heart was aching with need. So he took the plunge and leaned towards her, capturing her lips with his and holding his breath to see what she'd do. And she kissed him back. It started as something soft, and sweet, and shy. But he'd not kissed her in over a year, and he'd missed the taste of blackcurrants, so he kissed her a little harder, and she shifted closed, he held her tighter and she wound her fingers into his fur.

A cough from the door started them back to reality, and she squeaked in surprise before falling backwards off his lap, and she turned to look at who was stood in the door.

It was North, and the older Russian was smirking slightly as he looked at them, and Eleanor felt herself blush bright pink, and she glanced briefly to Aster whose lips were raised in a small smile.

"I take it... everything is fixed?" he asked, gesturing towards them, and her blush deepened to a red. "Judging from what you were doing, I would say so."

Aster simply burst out laughing, standing up and pulling Eleanor up from the floor, nodding to North, and she mimicked him. The older Guardian smiled widely at them both, moving into the room and pulling Eleanor into a large embrace.

"You remember?" he asked, and she nodded. "It's good to have you back."

"I agree," she giggled, hugging him back happily, and when he let her go she laced her fingers with Aster's. It felt good, and in the past year and a half when she couldn't remember she'd never once considered how good it would feel to just do something so simple. She didn't realise how much she'd missed this, even when she didn't know she could.

"Think you should tell the others?" he suggested, and Aster turned to look at her, smiling slightly.

"Sunflower?"

"Yeah, of course we're telling them," she exclaimed, rolling her eyes as if any other consideration would have been preposterous.

North nodded to them, beaming as his eyes swept over them and focused on their clasped hands, before he turned and made his way back through the door. Aster went to follow him, but Eleanor paused and stopped him, waiting for him to look at her before she looked at the floor sheepishly.

"Can you promise me one thing?" she asked quietly.

"Sure," he said, moving towards her, letting go of her hand in order to rest both of his one either wide of her waist, pulling her close to him.

"Don't ever tell Joyce and Freddy about this," she whispered, and he caught her tearing up, and he stooped his head to kiss her forehead, nuzzling his nose into her hair.

"As long as you never leave again," he told her, and she nodded to him.

"I won't leave again, I don't think I could," she said quietly, her voice thick with tears, and she gulped repeatedly, but it didn't help. Tears spilled down her cheeks.

"You're their mum, darlin', even if they did know they wouldn't think any less of you. You're here now, and that's all that matters."

* * *

Eleanor carried Joyce down into the burrow, while Aster carried Freddy. She lay her daughter down on her bed of heather and stroked her fingers through her soft fur. Her white fur was dirty with soot and ash because somehow she'd found her way into the bucket North kept beside his fireplace where he dumped the ash, and Eleanor smiled slighted as she ruffled the fur and watched a small cloud of soot rise up from it. Freddy had gone on an adventure with some elves, which meant everyone else was running around in a panic looking for him, Tooth was apologising over and over because she'd only looked away for a moment, and he'd been found in a bathtub covered in bubbles.

He'd needed a wash anyway, it was just a shame Joyce hadn't followed.

In all honesty, she felt kind of nervous lying beside Aster again, but as she made herself comfortable and he climbed into the nest beside her, she remembered how nice it was just to cuddle up to him, her head resting on his arm as he talked gently to her, stroked her hair back from her eyes, kissed her softly. There was a lot of catching up to do, a lot of conversations they'd missed out on, but for now they were both happy just whispering sweet nothings to one another, being close to one another, and after a while she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Aster watched her for what felt like hours, before he slipped his arm out from under her and made for the rabbit hole that would lead him to the surface.

The Warren was quiet, and he sighed as the cool night air breezed about him, and he looked up at the sky. Although it was a world all it's own, Mani still found his way there, and he looked up at the moon, and smiled slightly.

"You helped her, didn't you?" he asked, looking up at the moon as it glowed a little brighter, the white light illuminating the ground with a warm glow, making everything look sharp and defined. He nodded a little, feeling his heart swell.

"I thought so... thanks mate."

Smiling to himself, Aster slipped back down the rabbit hole to the burrow, his eyes sweeping over his two sleeping children, making sure the toddlers were alright, before he looked back at Eleanor. She looked peaceful, and he joined her in the nest again and pulled her close, feeling warm and happy inside as she mumbled to him in her sleeping state before she cuddled closer to him and smiled slightly.

It felt like everything had come to a close quite nicely. He had his family with him, they were all together and everything was finally on the right track again.

But deep down he knew it was only the beginning.


End file.
